The Congress asserted as the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir yatra entered Kerala on Sunday that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is pushing trivial and pointless matters to divert attention because it is so concerned about the enormous popularity of Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“Initially it talked about containers and later about Rahul Gandhi’s shirt and shoes. Tomorrow it will raise some other frivolous issues,”
In the Thiruvananthapuram district’s Neyyattinkkara, party leader Jairam Ramesh made the statement. He said that the nation’s home minister was in charge of the fruitless assault. The BJP made no instantaneous comment. Amit Shah, the Union’s home minister, mocked the former Congress leader on Saturday, saying he was out to unite the country wearing a costly foreign T-shirt.” The Bharatiya Janata Party earlier in a tweet said that the “Burberry T shirt he was wearing will be costing more than ₹40,000”.
“We just started our yatra but it seems the BJP is really worried over the unprecedented response it is getting. We can gauge it from its leaders’ reactions. Like PM Modi he is not spending public money on his clothing,” Ramesh said. The country still hasn’t forgotten about Modi’s $10,000 suit and shoes, he said, urging the BJP to refrain from talking about things that aren’t relevant. Instead of circling the waggons, he urged the party to discuss the yatra’s important topics including unemployment, price hikes, and social polarisation.
Party general secretary K C Venugopal responded that the upcoming organisational election will proceed smoothly when asked about it. “The Congress is a democratic party and even a DCC (District Congress Committee) president can run for the party president’s post. A section of the media is creating an atmosphere that the party is going through a big crisis ahead of the election,” he said.
When asked about upcoming election for the party president he said it is too early to talk about it but he felt a democratic process will only strengthen the party. He reiterated that his letter to party election officer Madhusudan Mistry was to seek a clarification, not confrontation. He criticised the leak of a private letter written by five party MPs and said he was satisfied with Mistry’s reply.
