Congress hits back at BJP for making fun of Rahul Gandhi
Congress hits back at BJP for making fun of Rahul Gandhi
The Congress has responded to JP Nadda's remarks against Rahul Gandhi by highlighting that the former party chief was the main campaigner whose rallies secured a considerable number of seats in the 2017 and 2018 state elections. Nadda had made a sarcastic comment that Rahul's campaigning during state polls was beneficial for the saffron party. Reports ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.
New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday hit back at BJP chief JP Nadda for making fun of Rahul Gandhi and said that the former party chief was the lead campaigner whose rallies had won a significant number of seats in the 2017 and 2018 state polls. The BJP chief recently made a sarcastic remark that Rahul campaigning during state polls was in a way good for the saffron party.
“Nadda should focus on his party instead of making fun of our leader. The BJP chief could not ensure a party win in his home state Himachal Pradesh last year and later in Karnataka. He is now making fun of our leader out of frustration as his party is struggling on the ground in the five state polls,” AICC secretary in charge of Gujarat BM Sandeep Kumar told ETV Bharat.
“Rahul Gandhi is our lead campaigner. The party won the three central Indian states Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where he campaigned aggressively in 2018. The party formed governments in all three states but our government in Madhya Pradesh was toppled by the BJP in 2020. Before that in 2017, Rahul Gandhi had led the Gujarat campaign and taken the party close to the victory margin. His Bharat Jodo Yatra and later campaigning helped the party win significant seats in the Karnataka polls,” he said.
According to party insiders, in 2018, Rahul conducted 25 rallies and four road shows in Madhya Pradesh where the party won 65 percent of the seats, in Rajasthan 19 rallies and 2 roadshows and 66 percent seats won, in Chhattisgarh 19 rallies and 1 roadshow and 75 percent seats won. Just before becoming Congress chief in 2017, Rahul had led an aggressive campaign in Gujarat where the grand party had emerged as a strong challenger to the BJP.
In the Karnataka polls in May this year, Rahul conducted over 25 rallies and won a brute majority of 135 out of 224 seats. According to the AICC functionary, the impact of Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was seen in the Karnataka polls and recently in Ladakh where the Congress-National Conference alliance won 22 out of 26 Ladakh Autonomous Council seats weeks after the Wayanad MP campaigned there for several days.
Congress veteran P Chidambaram had described the LAC poll result as a rejection of the BJP, the removal of Article 370 and the creation of a UT in 2019. “The Bharat Jodo Yatra influenced people across the country and its impact was seen in Karnataka. It will also be seen in the five state polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram where there is a groundswell in favour of the Congress. The BJP is on a weak wicket everywhere and that is making them nervous. They have been making personal attacks on our leader but it hardly bothers him. In fact, he has campaigned hard in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram and has a busy schedule in Rajasthan followed by Telangana. The crowds at his rallies and roadshows are an indicator of which way the poll wind is blowing but the result will be known only on Dec 3,” said Sandeep Kumar.
