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Journalism of Courage
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, visited Varanasi, the Parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rahul began the day with “darshan” at Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Wearing a “rudraksha mala” around his neck, Rahul addressed a gathering at Godowlia crossing, saying that he has come with his “head bowed before Ganga ji.”
Rahul said, “Main yahan aaya mandir mein maine matha teka. Ganga ji ko pranam karne ayah hoon main. Ganga ji ke samne, main yahan ahankar se nahi aaya hoon. Main sar jhukake, Ganga ji ke samne aaya hoon,” (I came here and offered prayers at the temple. I have not come before Ganga ji with arrogance. I have come with my head bowed.)
Rahul, however, did not speak on the Gyanvyapi row.
Recently, a Varanasi court allowed puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque complex adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The Congress and most of the parties of the Opposition INDIA alliance barring the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) maintained a cautious silence.
Rahul told the gathering that “true patriotism” is “uniting the country.”
“Desh ko ek saath karna, ek jut karna, jodna hi desh ki bhakti hai”. (To unite the country and bring it together is true patriotism), he said. Rahul added that the country would become strong only when people would work together.
Rahul said that many people come to meet him in the Yatra and thus when his team asked him what to do, Rahul said, “Jo bhi aaye use lagna chahiye.. Apne ghar aaya hoon, apne bhai se milne aaya hoon,” (Whoever comes to meet me should feel that he has come to his own house… He has come to meet his brother).
Rahul asked one of the youths in the crowd, whose name is also Rahul, to come over to his jeep and asked him about the amount spent by his father on his studies and whether he has got a job. The youth informed him that he hailed from Bihar and had come to apply for a job in police in Uttar Pradesh but feared that the large number of applications mean it might be tough for him.
Apna Dal (K) leader and SP MLA Pallavi Patel and her party leaders carrying Apna Dal flag, also joined the Yatra.
In Varanasi, Rahul also undertook a 12-km road show.
Later in the day, Congress leaders said that in a reversal of an earlier decision, the second stretch of the Yatra would cover western Uttar Pradesh as well. In West UP, the Yatra would resume from Moradabad and cover Amroha, Sambhal, Aligarh, Hathras and Agra before entering Rajasthan.
Asked about possibility of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contesting from Raebareli, Congress state president Ajay Rai said that Gandhi family has a “long association with Raebareli” and added that Priyanka can decide to contest from anywhere she wants.
Sources said that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is likely to join Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra in Raebareli on February 20.
Meanwhile, the Congress alleged that permission for its cameras to accompany Rahul during his visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple was cancelled at the last moment and said this was “pettiness” on the part of the Varanasi district administration.
In an apparent swipe at PM Modi, the party alleged that by doing this, the “district administration once again proved that it is nothing more than an employee of the ‘Camerajivi’ sitting in Delhi”.
UP Congress president Ajay Rai alleged that no cameras were allowed with Rahul when he went to Kashi Vishwanath Temple to offer prayers.
“All BJP leaders, when they come to offer prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple, are allowed to enter with cameras. No cameras were allowed with Rahul Gandhi and till now no photos have been released by the administration,” he told reporters.
Rahul also continued his attack on sections of the media and said that they would only show actors dancing and would show PM Modi 24 hours but not the issues faced by labourers or farmers. Taking selected names, he suggested that they were owned by “Adani ji, Ambani ji”.
As Rahul also mentioned the Press Trust of India (PTI), the agency reacted to the statement later in the day and posted on X, “Shocked to hear Rahul Gandhi say PTI is owned by Adani and Ambani. PTI is an independent, not-for-profit company. It has been jointly owned since Independence by a group of newspaper companies that derive no income from PTI’s revenue.”
Rahul alleged that certain media houses would not show the issues of farmers or labourers or poor as their owners have asked them not to show it. “Yeh kisan ke baare mein, majdoor ke bare mein garib ke bare mein kabhi nahi dikhane wale..Inke malik kehte hai…Hindustan ke garibon ke bare mein media mein nahi dikhana” (They would never show the farmers, labourers, poor.. their owners have told them not to do so).
– With PTI inputs
