'Others pseudo-box in TV studios, have pegs together at night,' Kumar alleged, insisting only Congress was taking on the BJP ideologically.
Kanhaiya Kumar during Bharat Jodo Yatra(Screengrab)
At a time Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is proving to be a stumbling block for the Congress in poll-bound Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in the Munugode bypoll, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar insisted that no other party except the grand old party was really taking on the BJP.
Speaking to reporters in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana on Sunday, 30 October, Kumar accused all other Opposition parties of “pseudo-boxing” with BJP.
Kumar is among the hundred-plus Bharat Yatris walking from Kanyakumari to Kashmir as part of the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi.
“Who fights the BJP? What does it mean to take them on? If taking on BJP means working with the same ideology as them, then that is pseudo-boxing. In Telangana, that is what is happening. In the day they pseudo-box in studios, but at night they have pegs together,” said Kumar, a former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra was passing from Gollapalli to Solipur in Mahabubnagar district on Sunday.
Kumar insisted that fight should be between ideologies.
“The fight is between Godse and Gandhi, and this country has always opted for Gandhi. Today also they have to choose Gandhi. This is an ideological battle between Godse and Gandhi” Kanhaiya said.
When asked why he had embarked on the countrywide walkathon, Kanhaiya Kumar said that is what you do when something is “broken”.
“When a youth of this country, who has all the degrees, goes somewhere with his CV but does not get a job, all his hopes are shattered. Unemployment is breaking the hopes of people and we have come out to restore their hope through Bharat Jodo Yatra,” the Congress leader said.
“When a person is assaulted because of his identity, a tilak or cap, his heart breaks. With Bharat Jodo Yatra we are mending that broken heart,” he added.
Responding to the BJP’s criticism that the Congress’ initiative was a “Bharat Todo Yatra”, Kumar said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the Congress party brought the country together.
“Whenever someone tries to break this bond, the Congress has always come to mend it. India is geographically connected, but we want it to be connected emotionally as one too,” he said, adding that the yatra has gone beyond Congress cadres, with lakhs of common citizens too joining in.
“Congress was fighting earlier too, but our message was not going out to the people; that’s why we decided to go to the people directly. Just like how Mahatama Gandhi reached out directly to the people, we want to too. Rahul Gandhi is doing the same,” said Kumar.
Reiterating Rahul Gandhi’s charge that crores of rupees have been spent to disperse misinformation about him, Kanhaiya Kumar said his friends too used to oppose Rahul Gandhi.
“My friends, who used to be against Rahul Gandhi, today are calling and saying that we are doing a great job. The perception has started to change and that’s why the people who are in power are rattled. They are not talking about the reason for Bharat Jodo Yatra but are talking about shoes, t-shirt, containers,” Kumar said.
Rahul Gandhi on Sunday sprinted as President of Telangana Congress chief Anumula Revanth Reddy and a bunch of kids tried to catch up. The sudden sprint sent a burst of energy through the yatra.
“On the go, run a little, Come together, wake up India,” tweeted the Bharat Jodo Twitter handle.
चलते-चलते, थोड़ी दौड़ भी लगाएं,
आओ मिल कर, हिंदुस्तान को जगाएं#BharatJodoYatra pic.twitter.com/K6vRsG53Ya— Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (@bharatjodo) October 30, 2022
जब रेस लगाई राहुल गांधी ने…#BharatJodoYatra pic.twitter.com/iJtd3fOcYW
— Congress (@INCIndia) October 30, 2022
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