Rahul at Vajpayee memorial, Cong says politics with large heart; BJP says drama

“We need to keep in mind that Rahul Gandhi visited the memorial of a person who gave lessons of raj dharma to the Gujarat chief minister of 2002, who is the country’s Prime Minister today,” said Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate during a press conference. “I feel seeing Rahul ji at the memorial, the Prime Minister will certainly recall those lessons. Politics is done with a large heart, which is what Rahul ji did today.”

Rahul’s visit to Vajpayee’s memorial came a day after a Congress functionary’s tweet alleging Vajpayee had sided with the British during the Independence movement triggered a row, with the BJP calling Rahul a “hypocrite” and his tributes to the former PM “a drama”.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla demanded Pandhi be sacked if the Congress “truly respects” Vajpayee. Another BJP spokesperson, Gaurav Bhatia, accused Rahul of “doing a drama”. “On the one hand Rahul Gandhi goes to Atal Sadaiv to pay homage and on the other hand party leaders use abusive words”, he said.

Even as the opposition party distanced itself from the now-deleted tweet, Shrinate, while responding to questions of the import of Rahul’s visit to Vajpayee’s memorial, said the Congress does not believe in a “BJP-mukt Bharat”.

“A democracy is made up of many ideological streams,” she said, “But the poisonous form of any ideology, in the name of which a community of the marginalised is attacked, is not acceptable. I don’t think the Vajpayee government practised that form. He stood with the Constitution.”

Congress general secretary in-charge (communications) Jairam Ramesh tweeted that Rahul’s move to visit the memorials was in keeping with the “spirit of the Bharat Jodo Yatra”.

“This (Monday) morning, Rahul Gandhi in keeping with the spirit of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, offered floral tributes at the Samadhis of Gandhiji, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Charan Singh, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Jagjivan Ram,” Ramesh tweeted.

On Saturday, Rahul led the Yatra into Delhi after walking 2,800 km across nine states from Kanyakumari since September 7. Initially, he was supposed to pay floral tributes after halting the march at Red Fort, but the programme was first postponed to Sunday and then to Monday.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will resume on January 3, following a nine-day pause since December 24. It will cover another 700-odd km through Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.