New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the memorial of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should remind PM Modi of his ‘Rajdharma’, the Congress said on Monday. “I think seeing Rahul Gandhi at the memorial of Atalji should remind the PM of his Rajdharma that Atalji wanted to teach him.
Atalji had given a lesson on Rajdharma to today’s PM when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002. Politics is done with a big heart and that is what Rahulji tried to do today,” Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said.
The Congress' reaction came hours after Rahul Gandhi visited the memorials of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Charan Singh, Rajiv Gandhi, and the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi.
“As far as Atalji is concerned, every person has a contribution in nation building but Rahul Gandhi went to the memorial of former PMs and that of Mahatma Gandhi also as he is doing penance. When you do Tapasya, you try to unite all. If BJP leaders want to join the yatra they are welcome,” she said.
While the Congress spokesperson targeted PM Modi, she distanced herself from a controversial tweet put out this morning by Gaurav Pandhi, who is attached to the office of party president Mallikarjun Kharge. The tweet critical of former PM Vajpayee was later deleted when the Congress leaders realized the mistake.
“The Congress stand is the stand taken by Rahul Gandhi. Atalji stood by the Constitution when he reminded the present PM about his Rajdharma in 2002. But PM Modi has not learned that lesson and has kept the Constitution at bay. I hope he follows the Constitution and puts an end to the targeting of some sections of society,” Shrinate said.
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“Rahulji’s presence at the Vajpayee memorial was a mark of respect to Atalji’s attempt to safeguard the Constitution,” she said. Rahul’s visit to the memorials was part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra which has taken a break from December 25 to January 2. The Congress alleged that the BJP was constantly trying to defame and derail the yatra and said that that the ruling party would never succeed.
The opposition party presented a list of 9 lies that had been spread by the BJP’s trolls to defame Rahul Gandhi since he started the yatra September 7. “These BJP trolls are doing all this at the behest of their top leadership including PM Modi and party chief JP Nadda. The buck for this defamation campaign against Rahul Gandhi stops at the doorstep of the top BJP leadership,” said Shrinate.
According to Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh, the Intelligence Bureau had been questioning all those who attended the yatra in Haryana recently to probe what was going on. “The yatra is transparent. Recently, two Haryana intelligence officials were found inside one of the containers in which the Bharat Yatris sleep. When they were caught, they said they had gone inside to use the washrooms.
But that was not true, there were a lot of washrooms at the campsite. Obviously, the Haryana intelligence officials were working at the behest of the Centre. We have lodged a complaint at Sohna police station,” said Ramesh. “The BJP is trying to defame and derail the yatra but they will not succeed. No one can stop us now,” he said.
