KOLKATA: Resuming his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in West Bengal on Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gave a clarion call to the people of the state to show the country the path to uproot the BJP from the Centre by applying their intellectual power.
“Being a Bengali, it is your responsibility to apply your intellectual power and show the country the road to uproot BJP from the Centre in the upcoming general election. It is your responsibility to protest against injustice. If you don’t do this, the country will not forgive you,” said Rahul while addressing a gathering in Siliguri.
Gandhi, however, preferred not to spend a single word on the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s change in his political stance by joining hands with the BJP and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to rule out an alliance with INDIA bloc partner Congress and fight all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Sources said the Yatra was cut short in Bengal as Rahul would skip his visit to Alipurduar and Darjeeling. The Congress leader will enter North Dinajpur on Monday before entering Bihar. He will re-enter Bengal and start his yatra from Malda on February 1.
Accusing the saffron camp of spreading hatred, Gandhi said, “India is a country of love. But the BJP is injecting hatred among the people of the country. You will have to stand against it.”
Despite Mamata’s loud and clear announcement that her party will fight alone in Bengal in the upcoming general elections, Congress’s general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who is accompanying Gandhi, praised firebrand politician for pursuing the same objective that the grand old party believes.
“Like Congress, Mamata Banerjee has the same objective of standing against the BJP and its ideological parent RSS. Both the parties will fight for the same goal being partners of INDIA bloc,” said Ramesh.
The Congress leader’s statement praising Mamata appears to be an attempt to eliminate the adverse impact of Mamata’s decision to rule out alliance with Congress in Bengal and keep open the possibility of seat sharing with the ruling TMC in the general elections.
While addressing the Yatra in Siliguri in North Bengal, said, “The Union government has made a mockery of the youths who wanted to join the armed forces by introducing the Agniveer scheme, a short-term recruitment scheme for the armed forces.”
“Hatred and violence are being spread across the country. It will serve no purpose. Instead of spreading hatred, we have to work towards spreading love and justice for our youth. The Centre is working only for big corporations and not for the poor and the youth,” he said.
Expressing gratitude for the reception he received in Bengal, Gandhi said, “Bengal holds a special place. It had led the ideological fight during the Independence struggle. It is the duty of the Bengalis to lead the fight against hatred.”
Yatra in Jharkhand on Feb 2
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will be reaching Jharkhand on February 2 via Pakur. According to Congress leaders, route of the yatra, however, is yet to be decided.
The former Congress President will stay for eight days in Jharkhand, covering 13 districts and 804 km during his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ which started on January 14 from Manipur.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren is likely to join Rahul Gandhi during his Yatra in Jharkhand.
A high-level meeting of the Congress, headed by the newly elected state in charge, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, was held in Deoghar on Saturday.
