The Congress leader however did not refer to the Gujarat elections in his speech. Rather, his major focus was the fate and struggles of farmers and workers.
During the campaigns of last Gujarat assembly elections in 2017, then the Congress president Rahul Gandhi flexed his Hindu credential showing the sacred thread – 5 years later, ahead of this election, he visited Mahakal temple and worshipped to lord Shiva. Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is currently passing through Madhya Pradesh, a BJP ruled state that recently came to the news for PM Narendra Modi’s grandeur inauguration of Mahakal corridor that as claimed by Congress, was a pet project of Kamal Nath government.
The senior Congress leader’s visit to Mahakal expectedly brought severe flaks as the ruling party claimed that his devotion is directed to woo Hindus before Gujarat polls.
Amit Malviya, the IT cell head of BJP in a tweet shared Gandhi’s Mahakal visit photo and called him ‘Chunavi Hindu’ who only shows his religious credentials when election is on the door. Malviya’s tweet reads, “Rahul Gandhi is as much a Hindu as Arvind Kejriwal is honest.”
Malviya also used this occasion to make people recall his belonging and identity. He added, “But it is good to see a Catholic mother and Parsi father’s son putting up this pretence to prove his Hindu lineage.” However, he connected the objective to Gujarat polls and said, “But it is good to see a Catholic mother and Parsi father’s son putting up this pretence to prove his Hindu lineage.”
The BJP termed the whole action of Gandhi ‘photo op’ and criticised the Congress leader for accompanying photographer in the sanctity sanctorum. Notably, PM Modi when inaugurated the 850-crores’ Mahakal corridor, every move of the PM was captured in camera and while he was worshipping, the focus of the photos was him doing rituals.
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh state culture minister Usha Thakur also criticised Rahul’s visit to temples and said, “You (Gandhi) go to temples, it is welcome. But you should also understand the importance of offering prayers and the darshan of the deity. It has been so many years since you were born, you should at least recite some prayer to the deity.”
Rahul Gandhi who on November 25, also visited Omkareshwar, another Jyotiralinga however, didn’t even mention Gujarat elections in his speech. Putting up the fate of farmers and workers, he said, “This is a country where tapasvis are worshipped. I have been on a tapasya [penance] for the last three months, but that is too small in front of the real tapasvis -- the farmers and workers.”
In his earlier speeches as well Gandhi hardly mentioned the Gujarat elections and mostly focussed on the fate of the workers, peasants and the struggling people of the country. Gandhi rarely even went for campaigning in either Himachal Pradesh or Gujarat. However, BJP dragging Gandhi in their campaign trail is part of their time-tested strategy.
Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra’s next phase starts on December 4, when it will enter its Rajasthan leg and will be there for 15-20 days.
