 "Rahul Gandhi")
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Friday called on Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, barely 48 hours after declaring he had information on the PM’s “personal corruption”, to highlight farmers’ plight.
Gandhi requested the PM to waive off tillers’ loans, especially in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. He was accompanied by the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Ghulam Nabi Azad; his deputy, Anand Sharma; and leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjuna Kharge. The meeting, however, had an adverse effect on the unity Opposition parties had exhibited in the winter session of Parlament.
At the time the Congress leaders were meeting the PM, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati reached the Rajya Sabha, and learning of the Gandhi-Modi rendezvous, she turned to her arch rivals, the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Finding SP leader Naresh Agarwal, she complained about how the Congress had “betrayed” the united Opposition by taking a cause concerning Uttar Pradesh to the PM without consulting them. SP agreed and soon decided to stay away from a joint march to the President. They were joined by the Left parties and the Nationalist Congress Party. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been the guiding force behind the united Opposition, told the miffed parties that it empathised with them.
However, TMC leaders — along with Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United) — joined Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh in their delegation to the President. At the PM’s office inside Parliament, the mood during Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with PM Modi was formal. The PM heard out the Congress leaders and later told Gandhi, “Hamein yun hi milte rahana chahiye (We should keep meeting like this).”
Kharge responded by saying, “Hamare dil nahin mil sakte, lekin kabhi kabhi haath mila sakte hain (Our hearts may not meet, but our hands may meet from time to time.)” The meeting lasted barely five minutes. Later, Rahul Gandhi told reporters the PM accepted the situation of the farmers, but did not say anything on loan waivers.
