NEW DELHI: As the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ enters into an eight day break after its Delhi leg, the Congress demanded an apology from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for spreading lies and misinformation about Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trip.
On Monday, Congress media cell posted pictures of Rahul Gandhi paying tributes at the memorials of former Prime Ministers including his father Rajeev Gandhi. Taking a jibe at the BJP, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said that a BJP leader had said Rahul Gandhi would travel abroad for a Christmas break. “But when the minister and BJP leader, wrapped up in a blanket in the severe cold, was busy breaking the country, Mr Gandhi was paying tributes at the memorials of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and all the former PMs.
She was referring to the tweet of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi which said, “It is strange to hear those people talk about Parliament’s functioning who pause their Yatra to leave for vacation and those who did not attend even a single day of session”.
During the winter session of the Parliament last week, Union Health Minister wrote to Rahul Gandhi urging him to suspend the yatra, if the Covid-19 protocols cannot be followed. Demanding an apology on the ‘lies’, Shrinate said that AICC general secretary has already asked the minister to apologise if his claims prove to be wrong. “Today, yet again, they were caught lying. Will the army of mafiveers apologise? Apologising is their old habit so it shouldn’t be a problem,” she said.
The Yatra entered Delhi on Saturday and it was joined by hundreds of supporters. Debunking ‘nine lies’ spread by the BJP on the yatra, the spokesperson said that the IT cell and the BJP ministers have taken up the job of spreading misinformation about Gandhi.
“The first lie was that the container is like a 5-star hotel. These containers built on top of trucks are not equipped with any such facility and BJP people should come and stay in those containers for 4 months,” she said. .
Earlier, Union minister Smriti Irani had alleged that Rahul Gandhi didn’t pay tribute to Swami Vivekananda in Kanyakumari during the yatra. However, Congress had shared videos of Rahul bowing to the statue of Vivekananda. “Another big lie was told that Rahul only went to church in the South. And then there was a lie about slogans of Pakistan Zindabad being raised in Bharat Jodo. That lie was also exposed,” she said.