AHMEDABAD: The BJP got some more fodder to attack Rahul Gandhi on Saturday after the Congress leader was joined during his Bharat Jodo Yatra by Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar in Maharashtra. The BJP in Gujarat is now trying to extract maximum political mileage out of the issue, as it comes just ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.
Targeting the Congress, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel tweeted: “Congress and Rahul Gandhi have time and again shown their animosity towards Gujarat and Gujaratis. By giving Medha Patkar a central place in his yatra, Rahul Gandhi shows that he stands with those elements who denied water to Gujaratis for decades.”
Other BJP leaders also took the opportunity to slam Rahul. “Medha Patkar was the person who didn’t want the Narmada dam project to get complete,” ex-CM Vijay Rupani said. “Now Patkar has joined Bharat Jodo Yatra, which shows that Congress is against development, which is their true face.”
State BJP chief CR Patil emphasized that Narmada is an important matter for the state, and tweeted, “People who oppose Narmada are considered anti-Gujarat by the people, that is why Rahul has hurt the sentiments of people by walking with Medha Patkar who has opposed the Narmada project for so many years.” In August, Patel had referred to Patkar as an “urban Naxal,” and used her former association with AAP to attack the party.
Without naming Patkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also said during a poll rally in Kutch that the “anti-Gujarat agenda of the Opposition is being comprehensively rejected”.According to political analyst Dilip Patel, BJP had been looking for a tenable issue to target Congress. Rahul’s walk with Patkar has given the ruling party just that.