Rahul’s remark triggers ‘north-south’ row

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he was used to a “different type of politics” in north India and coming to Kerala was “very refreshing” as people are interested in “issues”, triggering an attack from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

Gandhi, while speaking at the concluding rally of the ‘Aishwarya Yatra’, led by the leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, said he learnt a lot from Kerala and understood a bit about the “wisdom of the people” here.

“For the first 15 years, I was a member of Parliament in the north. So I had got used to a different type of politics. And for me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing. Because suddenly I found that people are interested in issues and not just superficially but going into detail in issues,” Gandhi said.

Reacting to Gandhi’s remark, BJP president JP Nadda tweeted: “A few days back he was in the North-east, spewing venom against the western part of India. Today in the South he is spewing venom against the North. Divide and rule politics won’t work.”

External affairs minister S Jaishankar in a tweet said that “India is one”.

“I hail from the South. I am an MP from a Western state. I was born, educated and worked in the North. I represented all of India before the World. India is one. Never run down a region; never divide us,” he said.