Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India]September 11 (ANI): March reached its Kerala leg on Sunday, with the Congress entering the fifth day of the Bharat Jodi Yatra led by party MP Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress leaders reached Parsala, a small town near the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The 3,500 km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will be completed in 150 days and will cover 12 states.
From Kerala, the yatra will pass through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on 30 September. It will be over Karnataka for 21 days before moving northwards. The padyatra (March) will cover a distance of 25 km per day.
According to the Congress, the ‘Bharat Jodi Yatra’ is being organized to counter the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre, and to make the people of the country aware of the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarization and political centralisation.
The yatra will include padyatras, rallies and public meetings, which will be attended by senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Significantly, all the party’s MPs, leaders and workers are staying with Rahul Gandhi. Some of the containers also have sleeping beds, toilets and ACs. There will be differences in temperature and atmosphere in many areas during the journey. With the change of location, arrangements have been made in view of the scorching heat and humidity.
The Congress suffered a defeat in the assembly elections held earlier this year and the yatra is being seen as an attempt to rally the party’s rank and file for the upcoming electoral battle.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi on Friday came under sharp attack from the BJP over a video of his “conversation” with controversial Catholic priest George Ponnaiah during a break in the India Jodi Yatra, with party leaders asking if it was a ‘conversation’. Connect India with India Jodo’. ,
The Congress hit back, accusing the BJP of “mischievous lies”.
A video clip of Rahul Gandhi’s conversation with a Tamil Nadu priest went viral, in which Rahul Gandhi can be heard asking, “Is Jesus Christ a form of God? Is he right?” To which George Ponniya, a priest from Tamil Nadu replied, “He is the real God.”
Ponnaiah goes on to say, “God reveals to him (himself) as a man, a real person…not like Shakti… so we see a human person.”
Ponnaiya has a history of making provocative statements, which have landed him in trouble in the past. He was arrested in July last year at Kalikudi in Madurai for allegedly using ‘hate speech’ against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, DMK minister and others.
Rahul Gandhi met him at Muttidichan Parai Church, Puliyurkurichi, where he camped on Friday for the morning leave.
BJP national spokesperson Shahzad Poonawalla attacks Rahul Gandhi, “George Ponnaiah who met Rahul Gandhi says only Jesus is God unlike Shakti (and other Hindu deities)”
He further added, “Earlier he was arrested for his fanatical remark when he said, “I wear shoes because the impurity of Mother India should not pollute us.”
Soon after the video of Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with controversial Tamil priest George Ponnaiah went viral, the Congress hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging that the ruling party at the Center was spreading lies.
“This is a completely fake video. What was said in the conversation has nothing to do with the tweet. We have released the full text of what we said. This is a common mischievous lie being spread by BJP to hurt the spirit of Bharat Jodi Yatra.
He accused the BJP of dividing the country.
“We are trying to unite people and bring people together as India is falling apart due to economic inequality, social polarization and political centralisation. BJP divides and Congress unites. BJP believes in unity whereas Congress believes in unity. BJP rejects India’s diversity but Congress celebrates India’s diversity.
“We are determined that this Bharat Jodi Yatra will be a great success, it will create new political culture and it will strengthen the organization of the Congress party. India needs a strong vibrant Congress and Bharat Jodi Yatra is Hanuman to make ‘Sanjeevani’ for Congress.
Ramesh said on Twitter that the video has nothing to do with the video recorded in the audio.
Further Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Jodhpur, also took a dig at Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress leader is leading a campaign to unite the country- Bharat Jodi Yatra “by wearing a foreign T-shirt”.
Earlier, the BJP had also attacked the Congress on social media, claiming that Rahul Gandhi, who had been raising the issue of inflation during the ‘Bharat Jodi Yatra’, himself was wearing a T-shirt worth Rs 41,257 and that too of a foreign brand. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the mission of ‘Make in India’.
Shah referred to the reference “India is not a nation” in Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Parliament.
“Rahul Gandhi has taken out a trip to India wearing a foreign T-shirt. I am reminded of a speech by Rahul Gandhi and Congressmen in his Parliament. Rahul Baba had said that India is not a nation. Rahul Gandhi, in which book have you read this? This is the country for which lakhs and lakhs of people have sacrificed their lives. Rahul Gandhi needs to study the history of India,” Shah said while addressing booth president Sankalp Mahasammelan in Jodhpur. (ANI)
This report is automatically generated from ANI news service. ThePrint assumes no responsibility for its contents.