Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on November 28 said his Bharat Jodo Yatra has a clear goal of standing against the growing hatred, price rise and unemployment in the country.
“The country has never been fearful in its worst time. People of India have a culture, known across the world. The culture is about love, compassion and mutual respect,” Rahul told a press conference in Madhya Pradesh.
Politics is not the objective of the yatra, it is aimed at bringing people together, he said. “I am not thinking about Congress, organisation or politics. I am standing for the idea of the India, which is being attacked and destroyed.”
Recalling his best time during the yatra, he said, “The yatra has developed my patience further and nature of listening to people has also changed. I give more time to people to narrate their grievances.”
He also attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly handing over the economy in the hands of a few industrialists. The foundation of this country rests with farmers and small scale business units who are not being supported by the government, he said.
“There is blatant privatisation of heath care and education system. It should be government’s priority to back these two sectors at its own. India is a dynamic nation and it cannot be run with a rigid thought. We have to run the country with public’s idea.”
Rajasthan is in throes of bitter infighting with the Congress. Rahul said both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot are assets of the party and indifference between them won’t affect the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“I wanted to start this yatra when I was 26-year-old. Later I planned a year ago, but I couldn’t initiate it because of the Covid-19 crisis. Now, I have come to this conclusion, this was the right time,” he said.
Speaking on personal attacks by the ruling party leaders, the Lok Sabha MP said BJP is rattled with the yatra.
“BJP has invested thousands of crores to destroy my image, but in reality, it's working in my favour. You get personal attacks only when you take a position in politics. It means I am in the right direction. These attacks teach me as how I can move ahead,” Rahul said.
Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during a rally in Gujarat had said Rahul Gandhi has been sporting beard like Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
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