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Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took out a 15-km padyatra in Maharashtra’s Amravati district to highlight farmers’ woes and the Centre’s apathy towards the farm sector.
Reports suggested Gandhi’s padyatra has galvanised the Congress’ position in these areas. In the morning, he had visited the family of a local farmer who had committed suicide.
While Congress workers were seen praising Gandhi for his effort, his political rivals seemed unsparing in their criticism of the move. Taking a jibe at Gandhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged the Congress vice-president needed to come up with more substance rather than ‘shoot and scoot’.
“You don’t need to be a guest actor. For success in politics, you need to be a full-time actor. Particularly for the Congress, which is down after the Lok Sabha elections, it is important that Rahul Gandhi comes with more substance rather than going for a ‘shoot and scoot’ style,” BJP National Secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rout said: “Rahul ji ki chhutti lagta hai khatm ho gayi hai , kisaano ke mudde par baat karna part-time job nahi hai (It seems Rahul’s vacation is over; to talk on farmers’ issues is not a part-time job).”
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Talking to mediapersons, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “Wo (Rahul) ja rahe hain , zaroor jayein , agar achchha sujhaav wo denge to unka sujhaav bhi hum sunenge (He (Rahul) is going (to Amravati), let him go. If he has some good suggestions, we will listen to his suggestions, too).”
Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas said: “ Brand manager se jan neta taiyar nahi hote , jan neta seasonal nahi hote (Brand managers can’t prepare a people’s leader; a popular leader cannot be seasonal one).”
Responding to BJP’s barbs, Congress leader Rajeev Shukla said: “Rahul ji jahan bhi jayein yeh log pareshan ho jaate hai . Lagta hai BJP ke netaon ko Rahul-phobia ho gaya hai. (Wherever Rahul goes, these people (BJP) get worried. It seems BJP leaders have become Rahul-phobic).”
