By PTI
SRINAGAR: Rahul Gandhi’s Burberry T-shirt and his scraggly beard, V D Savarkar and north India’s chilling winters, the Kathua rape and Covid. As the curtains fall, the Bharat Jodo Yatra replays in a patchwork of points private and overtly political with controversies aplenty to make sure the highlight seldom wavered.
The Kanyakumari to Kashmir yatra began from the southern tip of the nation on September 7 and ends on January 30 in Srinagar, some 145 days and three,500 km later.
The cross-country foot march stayed within the information nearly proper by means of, principally for the barbs between the BJP and the Congress and sometimes for different causes, together with infighting within the opposition social gathering.
It began throughout the first leg in Tamil Nadu with the BJP attacking Gandhi for sporting a Burberry T-shirt allegedly value Rs 41,000. The Congress hit again with a “Rs 10 lakh suit” and “Rs 1.5 lakh glasses” barb directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It was just the start.
As the Gandhi-led yatra continued so did the sparring on social media platforms, TV debates and on the streets.
During the early days of the yatra, the grand previous social gathering, for example, tweeted an image of khaki shorts, usually related to members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, on hearth. This triggered a backlash from the BJP, which accused the Congress of instigating violence.
And the BJP, in Tamil Nadu, accused the Congress of being anti-Hindu over Gandhi’s assembly with a controversial Christian priest.
In Kerala, the Congress was left red-faced when a photograph of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar appeared on a marketing campaign poster close to Kochi. The Ernakulam District Congress Committee, which organized an enormous preparation for welcoming the yatra, resorted to a fire-fighting train by instantly suspending the Congress employee liable for it.
Gandhi’s gray beard was on the centre of a disagreement between the 2 events with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claiming at a ballot rally in Gujarat that the previous Congress chief had began trying just like the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
This drew a rebuke from the Congress which mentioned he gave the impression of a “troll.”
There had been additionally occasions when dissensions inside the social gathering and its allies got here to the fore.
The Maharashtra leg noticed fissures floor between the Congress and its ideologically incompatible ally Shiv Sena after Gandhi attacked Savarkar over his mercy petitions to the British.
In Madhya Pradesh, a disaster erupted within the social gathering in Rajasthan, the yatra’s subsequent vacation spot, when Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot slammed his former deputy Sachin Pilot and referred to as him a ‘gaddar’ in an interview.
The matter was resolved within the nick of time and a present of unity was put up by Gehlot and Pilot with social gathering common secretary, organisation, Okay C Venugopal brokering an uneasy truce simply forward of the yatra getting into the desert state.
As the yatra entered Rajasthan, the spectre of Covid loomed massive.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to Gandhi and Gehlot, asking them to contemplate suspending the march if Covid protocols couldn’t be adopted.
Gandhi hit again saying the BJP was getting nervous and utilizing Covid as an excuse to cease his march.
The Congress and the BJP sparred when former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan joined the march after which later when former military chief Gen (retd) Deepak Kapoor participated within the yatra in Haryana.
The two events had been at loggerheads once more when Union minister Pralhad Joshi alleged that Gandhi was happening a vacation and that’s the reason his Bharat Jodo Yatra had taken an extended break at December-end. Congress common secretary Jairam Ramesh has repeatedly demanded an apology from Joshi for his remarks that Gandhi was happening a vacation.
Gandhi spent the break in Delhi throughout the December-end break.
Gandhi’s white T-shirt, no sweater look in north India’s famed winter was additionally the topic of a lot consideration. He mentioned he determined to put on solely T-shirts throughout the march after assembly three poor ladies “shivering in torn clothes” in Madhya Pradesh.
That’s when he determined that till he shivers, he will not put on a sweater, the Congress chief mentioned.
Earlier this month, Gandhi sparked a row when he mentioned the Congress believes in ‘tapasya’, whereas the BJP is an organisation of ‘pooja’. India is a rustic of ‘tapasvis’ (ascetics) and never ‘pujaris’ (clergymen), he mentioned.
The BJP slammed Gandhi, saying the Congress has a “DNA of divide and rule”.
“Respect Tapasya but why denigrate Pujaris,” a BJP spokesperson requested on Twitter.
ALSO READ | Disinformation stalks Rahul Gandhi on Bharat Jodo Yatra
Another controversy to hit the Congress was over Dongra Swabhiman Sangthan Sangathan Party (DSSP) chief Choudhary Lal Singh’s resolution to hitch the Bharat Jodo Yatra, resulting in objections from a piece of the Congress and different events.
Congress spokesperson Deepika Pushkar Nath resigned from the social gathering on January 17 over the social gathering agreeing to Singh’s assist to the yatra, alleging that he was liable for sabotaging the 2018 Kathua rape case by “brazenly defending” the rapists of the eight-year-old woman.
National Conference vp Omar Abdullah additionally opposed the participation of Singh.
In the most recent row, senior Congress chief Digvijaya Singh questioned the federal government’s claims on surgical strikes and accused it of peddling lies.
This drew a livid response from the BJP, which mentioned the opposition social gathering was blinded by its “hate” for Prime Minister Modi and had “insulted” the armed forces.
There have additionally been casualties throughout the yatra.
Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary died following a cardiac arrest throughout the Punjab leg.
A Congress Seva Dal functionary died after collapsing in Nanded in Maharashtra.
Besides, a 62-year-old man from Tamil Nadu died and one other particular person from that state was injured after being hit by a truck in Nanded once they had been collaborating within the Congress’ foot march.
ALSO READ | Congress busts BJP’s ‘9 Yatra lies’, calls for apology
SRINAGAR: Rahul Gandhi’s Burberry T-shirt and his scraggly beard, V D Savarkar and north India’s chilling winters, the Kathua rape and Covid. As the curtains fall, the Bharat Jodo Yatra replays in a patchwork of points private and overtly political with controversies aplenty to make sure the highlight seldom wavered.
The Kanyakumari to Kashmir yatra began from the southern tip of the nation on September 7 and ends on January 30 in Srinagar, some 145 days and three,500 km later.
The cross-country foot march stayed within the information nearly proper by means of, principally for the barbs between the BJP and the Congress and sometimes for different causes, together with infighting within the opposition social gathering.
It began throughout the first leg in Tamil Nadu with the BJP attacking Gandhi for sporting a Burberry T-shirt allegedly value Rs 41,000. The Congress hit again with a “Rs 10 lakh suit” and “Rs 1.5 lakh glasses” barb directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It was just the start.
As the Gandhi-led yatra continued so did the sparring on social media platforms, TV debates and on the streets.
During the early days of the yatra, the grand previous social gathering, for example, tweeted an image of khaki shorts, usually related to members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, on hearth. This triggered a backlash from the BJP, which accused the Congress of instigating violence.
And the BJP, in Tamil Nadu, accused the Congress of being anti-Hindu over Gandhi’s assembly with a controversial Christian priest.
In Kerala, the Congress was left red-faced when a photograph of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar appeared on a marketing campaign poster close to Kochi. The Ernakulam District Congress Committee, which organized an enormous preparation for welcoming the yatra, resorted to a fire-fighting train by instantly suspending the Congress employee liable for it.
Gandhi’s gray beard was on the centre of a disagreement between the 2 events with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claiming at a ballot rally in Gujarat that the previous Congress chief had began trying just like the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
This drew a rebuke from the Congress which mentioned he gave the impression of a “troll.”
There had been additionally occasions when dissensions inside the social gathering and its allies got here to the fore.
The Maharashtra leg noticed fissures floor between the Congress and its ideologically incompatible ally Shiv Sena after Gandhi attacked Savarkar over his mercy petitions to the British.
In Madhya Pradesh, a disaster erupted within the social gathering in Rajasthan, the yatra’s subsequent vacation spot, when Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot slammed his former deputy Sachin Pilot and referred to as him a ‘gaddar’ in an interview.
The matter was resolved within the nick of time and a present of unity was put up by Gehlot and Pilot with social gathering common secretary, organisation, Okay C Venugopal brokering an uneasy truce simply forward of the yatra getting into the desert state.
As the yatra entered Rajasthan, the spectre of Covid loomed massive.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to Gandhi and Gehlot, asking them to contemplate suspending the march if Covid protocols couldn’t be adopted.
Gandhi hit again saying the BJP was getting nervous and utilizing Covid as an excuse to cease his march.
The Congress and the BJP sparred when former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan joined the march after which later when former military chief Gen (retd) Deepak Kapoor participated within the yatra in Haryana.
The two events had been at loggerheads once more when Union minister Pralhad Joshi alleged that Gandhi was happening a vacation and that’s the reason his Bharat Jodo Yatra had taken an extended break at December-end. Congress common secretary Jairam Ramesh has repeatedly demanded an apology from Joshi for his remarks that Gandhi was happening a vacation.
Gandhi spent the break in Delhi throughout the December-end break.
Gandhi’s white T-shirt, no sweater look in north India’s famed winter was additionally the topic of a lot consideration. He mentioned he determined to put on solely T-shirts throughout the march after assembly three poor ladies “shivering in torn clothes” in Madhya Pradesh.
That’s when he determined that till he shivers, he will not put on a sweater, the Congress chief mentioned.
Earlier this month, Gandhi sparked a row when he mentioned the Congress believes in ‘tapasya’, whereas the BJP is an organisation of ‘pooja’. India is a rustic of ‘tapasvis’ (ascetics) and never ‘pujaris’ (clergymen), he mentioned.
The BJP slammed Gandhi, saying the Congress has a “DNA of divide and rule”.
“Respect Tapasya but why denigrate Pujaris,” a BJP spokesperson requested on Twitter.
ALSO READ | Disinformation stalks Rahul Gandhi on Bharat Jodo Yatra
Another controversy to hit the Congress was over Dongra Swabhiman Sangthan Sangathan Party (DSSP) chief Choudhary Lal Singh’s resolution to hitch the Bharat Jodo Yatra, resulting in objections from a piece of the Congress and different events.
Congress spokesperson Deepika Pushkar Nath resigned from the social gathering on January 17 over the social gathering agreeing to Singh’s assist to the yatra, alleging that he was liable for sabotaging the 2018 Kathua rape case by “brazenly defending” the rapists of the eight-year-old woman.
National Conference vp Omar Abdullah additionally opposed the participation of Singh.
In the most recent row, senior Congress chief Digvijaya Singh questioned the federal government’s claims on surgical strikes and accused it of peddling lies.
This drew a livid response from the BJP, which mentioned the opposition social gathering was blinded by its “hate” for Prime Minister Modi and had “insulted” the armed forces.
There have additionally been casualties throughout the yatra.
Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary died following a cardiac arrest throughout the Punjab leg.
A Congress Seva Dal functionary died after collapsing in Nanded in Maharashtra.
Besides, a 62-year-old man from Tamil Nadu died and one other particular person from that state was injured after being hit by a truck in Nanded once they had been collaborating within the Congress’ foot march.
ALSO READ | Congress busts BJP’s ‘9 Yatra lies’, calls for apology
