Rahul Gandhi wanted ceremonial see off for Mansarovar trip, claims BJP
New Delhi, Aug 31 : The BJP and the Congress on Friday got into a fresh spat after the saffron party claimed that Rahul Gandhi, who left on a Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via Nepal this morning, wanted a ceremonial send off and asked the Chinese Ambassador to see him off.
Addressing a press conference here, BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra said "Rahul Gandhi wanted the Chinese Ambassador to see him off. The Ambassador had sought permission for it in writing to the Ministry of External Affairs so that the ceremonial lounge at the Indira Gandhi International Airport could be used for giving him a ceremonial see off in the presence of the Ambassador and other diplomats of that country."
The Congress hit back saying the BJP was insulting the abode of Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati by such "cheap" political tactics.
Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that an "unnerved" Prime Minister and a rattled BJP have shown their parochial, hateful mindset by mocking at the religious journey.
"Calling this auspicious yatra honeymoon tourism by the BJP is the vilest attack on Hindu faith and belief," Surjewala maintained.
Patra claimed that the MEA did not respond to it.
Patra said "It is commonsense that since you are Rahul Gandhi and not Chinese Gandhi, why should the Chinese Ambassador see you off when you are going to Nepal. There is no such protocol.
"Why Rahul Gandhi wants so? Why was such a demand made from the Chinese envoy? It is serious and something which Congress should answer," he said.
"But the question is why the Chinese Ambassador wanted to see off a non-Chinese resident. They never do it with Indian MPs or Indian citizens. This is the question. What is the Chinese connection?," he said.
The BJP leader said he was raising questions about Gandhi's "China connection" because there was a history behind it.
"Is it not true that the Gandhi family was invited to China for the inauguration of the Beijing Olympics. Then Congress President Soina Gandhi was the special guest of the Chinese government although she was not holding any government post. Even the Chinese Ambassador went to the airport to see off the entire family. Ye rishta kya kahlata hai...(What does this relationship say)," he asked.
He said the relation of Rahul Gandhi and China is well known by now and sought to know from him whom he will be meeting during his visit.
"When Chinese premier (Xi Jinping) comes to India and hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the banks of river Sabarmati, you question it. You say that the Prime Minister and the Chinese President sat side-by-side on a swing and here you want to be given a ceremonial see off by the Chinese ambassador."
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
