The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is worried over the huge popularity of the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi, so it is raising frivolous and meaningless issues to divert attention, the Congress said on Sunday as the “K to K yatra” entered Kerala.
Talking to newsmen in Neyyattinkkara in Thiruvananthapuram district, party spokesman Jairam Ramesh said the rattled ruling party was raising frivolous issues to divert attention and the Congress was least bothered about them.
“Initially it talked about containers and later about Rahul Gandhi’s shirt and shoes. Tomorrow it will raise some other frivolous issues,” he said adding the home minister of the country was leading the futile attack.
Home minister Amit Shah on Saturday took a jibe at the Congress leader saying “he was out to unite the country wearing a costly foreign-make T shirt.” The party had tweeted earlier that “Burberry T shirt he was wearing will be costing more than ₹40,000”.
“We just started our yatra but it seems the BJP is really worried over the unprecedented response it is getting. We can gauge it from its leaders’ reactions. Like PM Modi he is not spending public money on his clothing,” Ramesh said.
He asked the BJP not to engage in irrelevant talk and said the country is yet to forget about Modi’s ₹10-lakh worth suit and shoes. He asked the party to debate substantive issues being raised at the yatra like unemployment, price rise and social polarisation rather than beating around the bush.
“Yatra is an attempt to re-connect people, an attempt to revive the party. It is not a speaking yatra, it is an attempt to listen to people. It is unlike Modi’s monologue Man ki baat,” he said, emphasizing that the world’s second oldest party after the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom was on a mission to listen to people and undo damages committed by the BJP in last seven years.
Asked about the upcoming organisational election, party general secretary K C Venugopal said it will be a smooth affair. “The Congress is a democratic party and even a DCC president can run for the party president’s post. A section of the media is creating an atmosphere that the party is going through a big crisis ahead of election,” he said.
Senior leaders Digvijay Singh, Paven Khera, PCC president K Sudhakaran and state opposition leader V D Satheesan were present at the media briefing.
At the break of dawn thousands of people assembled at Tamil Nadu- Kerala border town Parasala, 45 kms south of the state capital, to receive the yatra. Organisers and security personnel had a tough time in controlling them.
“We are overwhelmed by the response of people. This yatra will open a new chapter and will put an end politics of hate and divisiveness,” said party spokesperson Shama Mohammad who was walking briskly to catch up with other yatris. She said she will cover the entire stretch of Kerala in next 18 days. Some of the participants, 30 per cent of them are women and average age of 120-odd permanent yatris is 38, were seen complaining about high humidity and some of them took time off to get refreshment from roadside eateries. On Monday Gandhi will call on protestors who laid a siege to the upcoming Vizhinjam port complaining loss of their livelihood and displacement. Adani Group is constructing the country’s first mother ship terminal project near the state capital.
“You can see enthusiasm of people. They are coming out in large numbers to greet yatris and their leader. The yatra will help give fresh energy and revive prospects of the party,” said party leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. When asked about upcoming election for the party president, he said it is too early to talk about it but he felt democratic process will only strengthen the party. He reiterated that his letter to party election officer Madhusudan Mistry was to seek a clarification, not confrontation. He criticised the leak of a private letter written by five party MPs and he was satisfied with Mistry’s reply.
