Yatra the only way of expression as all other fora shut for Opposition: Rahul Gandhi
Gundlupet (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was the only option left with the party to reach out to the masses as all other fora for expression are shut.
His 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' entered Karnataka here in Chamarajanagar district from Gudalur in Tamil Nadu.
"There are various institutions in democracy. There's media and Parliament too but all these have been shut for the Opposition and the media doesn't listen to us. There's total government control. Our mics are muted in Parliament, Assemblies are not allowed to function and opposition is harassed. In this situation, the only option left with us is 'Bharat Jodo Yata," Gandhi said at a public meeting here.
Gandhi said no force in the country can stop this yatra because this is 'India's March'.
"This is India's March and a march to hear India's voice, which no one can suppress," he added.
The former Congress president said in the next 21 days during which the Yatra would cover 511 km passing through various districts the "pain of Karnataka" will be heard.
"In the next 20 to 25 days, you will accompany me and you will hear the pain of Karnataka. You will hear about prevailing corruption, unemployment and price rise (in Karnataka)," Gandhi said.
According to him, the objective of the march is to "save" the Indian Constitution, and "to stand up against the BJP and RSS' ideology of hatred and violence".
"This march is to save the Constitution. This tricolour is meaningless without the Constitution," he told the crowd.
The Congress leader said the Yatra also encompasses people's struggle against price rise, unemployment, atrocities against farmers and the privatization of public sector units.
"The objective of this Yatra is not to give speeches but to hear you," he added.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
