New Delhi: Through the Delhi leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Monday morning visited the Sadaiv Atal, the memorial of former prime minister and Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) icon Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The short cease on the late PM’s samadhi acquired blended responses from throughout the social gathering — some had opposed the concept, whereas some praised it, saying it stays true to Rahul’s imaginative and prescient for Bharat Jodo Yatra. The BJP, dismissed it as a mere photo-op, whereas a political analyst ThePrint spoke to mentioned that the go to received’t make a lot of a distinction.
To drive residence his level of peace and unity, Rahul not solely stopped at Vajpayee’s samadhi within the capital, but additionally visited memorials of different necessary leaders — together with relations Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and of Mahatma Gandhi and former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri — to distinguish the Congress from the BJP, a celebration which is barely seen paying homage to its personal leaders.
Sanjay Kumar, co-director of Lokniti on the New Delhi-based Centre for the Research of Growing Societies (CSDS), informed ThePrint, “Rahul Gandhi desires to ship a message by way of his gesture that he’s uniting India past small political good points. He desires to boost the purpose that PM Modi and the federal government is barely paying homage to their very own leaders. The PM (Modi) has not visited Nehru or Indira (Gandhi’s) samadhis. It reveals (Modi’s) partisan politics. Gandhi is visiting all leaders, rising above slim political good points.”
This isn’t the primary time that Rahul has used Vajpayee to assault the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On 12 June, 2018, Rahul had mocked PM Modi for “humiliating” veteran BJP leaders Vajpayee, L.Ok. Advani and Jaswant Singh, and criticised him for not visiting Vajpayee at AIIMS hospital the place he was admitted on the time.
He had tweeted, “Eklavya lower off his proper thumb as a result of his guru demanded it. Within the BJP, they lower down their very own gurus…. Humiliating Vajpayee ji, Advani ji, Jaswant Singh ji and their households is the Prime Minister’s manner of defending Indian tradition.”
The identical day, whereas addressing a rally of Congress staff in Mumbai, he mentioned the “Congress social gathering fought in opposition to the Vajpayee authorities, however when he was sick, it was us who first visited him. That is the ideology of the Congress social gathering. We respect our opponents.”
Vajpayee died on 16 August, 2018.
In response to former Congress chief Ashwini Kumar, Rahul deserves reward. “Earlier, politics was not about hatred. Even I wrote about Atal ji’s positive human contact and his nice coronary heart and statesmanship. It’s good that he’s visiting all leaders who’ve contributed to the making of the nation. It’s a brand new starting of the politics of affection and reconciliation. Politics of hatred ought to finish.”
The BJP believes that this ought to be seen by Rahul Gandhi as a chance to study from Atal Bihari Vajpayee and never simply as a media train.
Chatting with ThePrint, BJP spokesperson Ok.Ok. Sharma informed the print, “It’s good he (Rahul) is visiting Vajpayee ji’s samadhi. Earlier than Bharat Jodo, the Congress has finished a lot work for ‘Bharat todo’ (break India). They’ve aligned with the tukde-tukde gang too. Rahul is visiting the samadhi to clean the previous sins dedicated by the Congress social gathering. However he ought to keep in mind that Atal ji was a swayamsevak first. His ideology was ‘rashtradharm’ (faith of nation constructing), Rahul Gandhi ought to study one thing from Atal ji and never solely use this as a photograph alternative.”
Additionally learn: 100 days of Bharat Jodo Yatra: How Congress proposed and Rahul Gandhi disposed
Previous slights
Broadly revered even by his rivals, Vajpayee was referred to as the “Ajatashatru” (one with no enemies) of Indian politics, however had discovered himself on the receiving finish of criticism by Sonia Gandhi on a number of events.
In 1998, the Vajpayee authorities had carried out 5 nuclear assessments in Pokhran, Rajasthan. And whereas the nation had rejoiced, praising the PM’s management, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi saved silent for 10 days. When she lastly reacted to what was being seen as a historic second for India, she mentioned, “Actual power lies in restraint, not in show of Shakti.”
Subsequent 12 months, in 1999, at a rally in Ujjain, she had purportedly disrespected Vajpayee, referring to him as a “gaddaar” (traitor), prompting the BJP to demand an apology for her comment.
Then, in 2002, she had mentioned Vajpayee had “misplaced his psychological steadiness”.
Whereas making a speech in Parliament on a no-confidence movement in 2003, Sonia had referred to as the Vajpayee authorities “inept, insensitive and corrupt”. It was reported that even Vajpayee had misplaced his cool after this and, in response, mentioned that it appeared that the Congress chief had taken all of the phrases accessible within the dictionary and used them in a single paragraph. “It’s how the Opposition chief reveals their regard for the Prime Minister. It’s not due to the Opposition that I’m prime minister, however due to the individuals’s mandate. However the Congress social gathering doesn’t even wish to respect the individuals’s mandate,” he had mentioned.
Furthermore, when the UPA was in energy, it didn’t have fun Kargil Vijay Diwas — commemorated each 26 July to watch India’s victory over Pakistan within the Kargil Struggle of 1999 — between 2004 and 2009. Congress’ Rashid Alvi had reportedly mentioned, “Kargil isn’t a factor to be celebrated…. It’s solely the NDA which can have fun.”
It was solely after a Parliamentary query on why the UPA authorities didn’t have fun the Kargil Vijay Diwas, that A.Ok. Antony, then defence minister, assured that it will likely be noticed going ahead.
Chatting with ThePrint, creator and political activist Sudheendra Kulkarni, who had as soon as labored with Vajpayee and was just lately seen with Rahul on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, mentioned, “It’s a welcome step that Rahul is visiting Atal ji’s samadhi. The Bharat Jodo Yatra is a yatra to unite all ideologies and convey concord regardless of variations. Even (Jawaharlal) Nehru and Vajpayee had variations on many points, however Vajpayee held nice respect for Nehru. It’s as much as the Modi-led BJP to now reciprocate that respect in the direction of Nehru. Rahul Gandhi is coming with an open coronary heart; it ought to be welcomed.”
Nevertheless, in response to a political analyst, who wished to not be named, Rahul’s present of affection in the direction of Vajpayee and Advani is only a “social media narrative”.
“The Congress social gathering, too, has humiliated its personal leaders like P.V. Narasimha Rao, Sitaram Kesri and Sharad Pawar up to now. So, honouring elders and respecting Vajpayee is not going to journey very far to create the narrative they need. Sonia (Gandhi) humiliated Vajpayee a number of instances regardless of his massive coronary heart. It solely provides to the social media narrative, there’s nothing past that,” he informed ThePrint.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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