By LAKSHY DREAM FOUNDATION GLOBAL NEWS Web Desk: The Congress on Wednesday claimed the Bharat Jodo Yatra was being unfairly targeted by the BJP-led Centre after the Ministry of Health shot off a letter to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi urging him to pause the march if Covid protocols cannot be complied with.
In the letter, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Covid guidelines should be strictly followed during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, else it ought to be postponed. Mandaviya mentioned use of masks and sanitisers should be implemented, adding that only vaccinated people should participate in the yatra.
Calling out the BJP’s “double standards”, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the Yatra was being targeted because the saffron party was growing scared of Rahul Gandhi’s immense popularity. He further alleged that under the guise of Covid, the health minister’s letter was politically motivated.
“Upset with the rising public support for Bharat Jodo Yatra, BJP's aim is to disturb it. No Covid protocols were followed when PM did a rally in Tripura two days back... If Union health minister has a valid concern and not a political aim, he should first write to PM,” Gehlot said in a series of tweets in Hindi.
In a similar vein, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said, “…What are the Covid protocols today? We don't seem to be having any enforceable Covid protocols in any other public gatherings. Why this sudden attention to Bharat Jodo Yatra if not that it is rankling the BJP?”
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed Covid protocols while campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly polls.
“The Modi government is fuming because of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. They are raking up non-issues to divert the attention of the public. Did PM Modi go door-to-door in the Gujarat elections wearing a mask, following all protocols?” he said.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said the government can only see Rahul Gandhi and his yatra but not the political rallies taken out by the BJP in Karnataka and Rajasthan. He asked if the health minister had sent letters to them too.
"Why just Rahul Gandhi, why just Congress party, why just Bharat Jodo Yatra?" he questioned.
Senior Congress leader and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda pointed out that no Covid norms are being followed in Parliament, where the Winter Session is presently underway. “If the government brings the protocol, we’ll follow it,” he added.
Congress leaders let their barbs fly even as health minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting to review India’s Covid preparedness in view of a fresh spurt in cases in China and other countries.
Meanwhile, the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi crossed over into Haryana from Rajasthan this morning. It was welcomed in Haryana’s Nuh by former state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kumari Selja, Deepender Singh Hooda, state party chief Udai Bhan, newly appointed Haryana Congress in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil, among others. Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav also joined the Yatra.
The Yatra started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The first phase of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Haryana will conclude on December 23. In the second phase, the yatra will re-enter Haryana from Uttar Pradesh at Sanoli Khurd in Panipat district on January 6.
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