Taking pot shots at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's much hyped 'padyatra', the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said he should instead undertake a 'pashchataap yatra' (repentance march).
"Today when Rahul Gandhi is trying to get a political posturing out of his yatras, the serious suggestion would be Mr Rahul Gandhi and Congress should be in a repentance mode," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told ANI.
"During the 15-year tenure that the Congress and NCP had a government in Maharashtra, the farmer suicide rate was highest in Maharashtra in the whole country," he added.
Patra further slammed the 'yatra' as one that is meant to increase the Congress vice president's stature within the party.
"As far as Rahul Gandhi's yatra of Maharashtra is concerned, it is not a 'padyatra', it is a 'kadyatra'. That means, a stature increasing 'yatra' for Rahul within the Congress," he added.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier in the day targeted the Central government over farmers' issue, saying there was a general feeling among the farmers he met that they have been abandoned by the government.
The Congress vice-president began a day-long 'kisan padyatra' from Amravati to highlight the farmers' woes today.
He is travelling about 175 kilometres, including a 15-kilometre walk, through villages of Gunji and Shahapur in Dhamangaon Railway and Rajhna and Tonglabad in Chandur Railway talukas which have seen highest number of suicides this year.
