NEW DELHI, Sept 9: The BJP on Friday cited the Congress’ poll losses and exodus of its leaders to claim that its conversation with the masses and its own members has broken down as it took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi for his criticism that conversation in the country has stopped under the Modi government.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is all about launching Gandhi as a contender for the prime ministerial face in the Opposition at a time when many other parties are flexing muscles and visiting Delhi, an apparent reference to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
“He is making a claim to be on the list of prime ministerial aspirants in 2024,” Poonawalla told reporters.
Attacking Gandhi, he said the Congress has lost two Lok Sabha polls and most of the state assembly polls on his watch, “showing that its conversation with people has broken down”.
“Forget about uniting India as it is already united, he should try to unite the likes of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari with the Congress”, the BJP leader said.
While Azad has quit the Congress, many other senior leaders, including Sharma, Tharoor and Tewari, have sought an organisational overhaul of the party for its revival.
Sardar Patel had united the country, and the ideals of the likes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose have kept its people united, Poonawalla said.
He also slammed the Congress, claiming that none of its big leaders have welcomed the installation of Bose’s statue at India Gate after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled it on Thursday and also inaugurated Kartavya Path.
The Congress had also criticised the Statue of Unity, which is dedicated to Patel, he said, alleging that it is “narrow-minded” and is unable to come out of its “slave” mindset dedicated to a family.
Speaking to the media during the yatra which started from Kanyakumari on Thursday, Gandhi said the idea of this march is to connect with the people, listen to them, understand what they are facing and also communicate to them a few things.
The conversation among people has broken down and it needs to restart, he had said, targeting the BJP and RSS. (PTI)
