Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ continued in Haryana on Monday, in which he launched a veiled attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Addressing a public meeting at Modha Mullana, he said: “Haryana has shown all other States what it is and what it can do. This is the land of Mahabharata. The fight that was then is the same fight today as well,” he said.
“Pandavas were ascetic, they did not spread hatred on the earth. In Mahabharata, on one side there were five ascetics and on the other side, there was a crowded organisation. Pandavas also worked against injustice. The Kauravas of the 21st century wear khaki half pants, have sticks in their hands and organise shakhas. Two-three of India’s richest billionaires are standing with Kauravas,” he said.
Braving weather
The march resumed from Kurukshetra and ended in Ambala during which many women supporters, as a part of an “all-woman walk”, marched with Mr. Gandhi despite heavy smog and biting cold. Several farmers and farmer leaders also joined the march, prominent among them were Rakesh Tikait, Yudhveer Singh, Yogendra Yadav among others.
At Tyoda village in Shahabad, Mr. Gandhi met the families of farmers, who lost their lives during the farmers’ movement against the now-repealed farm laws. Mr. Gandhi, along with former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, State Congress in-charge Shakti Singh Gohil, State Congress president Udaybhan, Lok Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, interacted with farmers and discussed their problems.
Failed promises
Mr. Hooda said the BJP government had failed in its promises of doubling farmers’ income by the year 2022. “The anti-farmer face of the government has been completely exposed. The farmer is feeling cheated. Today the sugarcane farmers are on the streets but the government remains indifferent to the agitation… The income of the farmers has not doubled, on the contrary, the debt and expenditure on the farmers have definitely doubled,” he added.
Mr. Gandhi also met Haryanvi writers and artists including S.P. Singh and Subhash Chandra among others.
