E-Paper
Smriti Irani slams Rahul Gandhi over Bharat Jodo: 'Shocked by hunger of power'
The union minister was addressing BJP's ‘Jana Spandana’ event programme in Bengaluru.
Union minister Smriti Irani on Saturday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the party's ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which was kicked off earlier this week. Eyeing the 2024 polls, the grand old party has launched the mass contact programme - a 3,700 km-long countrywide foot march - that aims to cover 12 states and two union territories over the next 150 days.
The campaign - which began in Kanyakumari - will move northwards passing through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu, and culminate in Srinagar.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi at 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Kanyakumari: 'Institutions under attack from RSS, BJP'
Irani accused Gandhi of "harming the unity of India", which she said, "required the opposition party to take out such a campaign," reported news agency PTI. The union minister was addressing BJP's ‘Jana Spandana’ event programme in Bengaluru.
Several members from the ruling party have hit out at the Congress for launching the yatra. The union minister, at the event, made an “indirect” reference to Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar and took a dig at Gandhi for being in the company of people who allegedly chanted “anti-India” slogans. “Rahul Gandhi is on the way to unite India but he should answer first who dared to break India. You make a person a member of your party who shouted the slogan 'Bharat Tere Tukde Honge, Insha Allah,” she said.
Also read: ‘Will play decisive role in Congress rejuvenation’: Sonia Gandhi on Bharat Jodo day 2
Irani, who represents the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, also expressed shock over Gandhi's "fight is now against the structure of Indian state" remark in Kanyakumari. Stating that she is “shocked” at the Congress leader's statement, she said: “You have waged a war against India. I am shocked by your hunger for power”.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kanyakumari had said: "We are not fighting a political party anymore, we used to fight a political party. Now, the fight is not between one political party and another political party. Now, the fight is between the structure of the Indian state and the opposition and everybody understands this.”
(With inputs from PTI)
