New Delhi: An aggressive Congress on Monday dared the BJP, saying if the ruling party would indulge in slander, it should be prepared to take it back in the same coin.
“Those who stoke fire of hatred and bigotry should be prepared to take it back. The manner in which the BJP and its surrogates are raising trivial issues, they will get a response. The BJP is worried as it is not used to an aggressive Congress. If you get aggressive, we will be double aggressive,” Congress communications in charge Jairam Ramesh said.
Ramesh said that the BJP leaders and ministers are passing remarks that Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the Bharat Jodo yatra against divisive politics since September 7, wore an expensive T-shirt, sleeps in air-conditioned containers at night halts, met a controversial pastor and did not visit the Vivekananda memorial at Kanyakumari before starting the yatra.
“They (BJP) are worried about the yatra and the response that it is getting from the public. Therefore, Amit Shah raised the issue of Rahul’s T-Shirt and the party raised the issue of containers in which the leader sleeps. The Congress is raising public issues and is talking about uniting the country,” said Jairam Ramesh.
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On Smriti Irani’s charge that Rahul forgot to pray at the memorial of Swami Vivekananda before launching the yatra, Jairam Ramesh said: “She is levelling false charges. She can’t speak the truth even by mistake just like the PM. Rahulji visited the Vivekananda memorial at 3 pm on September 7. We have released a video clip of the same,” he said. The Congress leader also defended Rahul for meeting a controversial pastor, saying that the “party does not agree with the views of the pastor.”
In the same line, Ramesh referred to the earlier “goli maro” comment of minister Anurag Thakur and the provocative remarks made by party MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh to allege that the BJP deliberately raises divisive issues. According to AICC Secretary in charge of Organization JD Seelam, the BJP was trying to divert public attention from the Bharat Jodo yatra and was therefore raising non-issues.
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“They are trying to divert public attention but we are committed to the theme of the yatra. The foot march is against growing economic disparities, social polarization and political centralization. We will go on flagging the public issues like price rise and unemployment and spread our message of unity,” Seelam said.
AICC Secretary in charge of Organization Qazi Mohammed Nizamuddin said that the BJP leaders were indulging in personal attacks on Rahul Gandhi as they were nervous over the response during the yatra.
“The BJP has nothing to say. They are worried over public response and are therefore making personal attacks on Rahul ji. This shows they are nervous. The BJP can’t say one good thing their government has done in the past and they know they don’t have any answers to the problems like price rise, GST, unemployment, health care, educational facilities or handling of internal security,” Qazi told this channel. “The Congress is prepared to counter this negative agenda aggressively. The BJP’s nervousness shows that we are moving in the right direction,” he added.
