Bellary used to have an entrepreneur in every home but most of them have become employees or are toiling as labourers elsewhere because of the Narendra Modi government’s policies, small and medium textile industry representatives in Karnataka told Rahul Gandhi on Sunday.
Bellary, officially known as Ballari and famous for its mining industry, used to be a textile hub too, the industry representatives told Rahul.
But the demonetisation, flawed GST implementation, rising input costs and disruption of supply chains have led to the steady decline of a once thriving business, they added.
Rahul has, during the 38-day-old Bharat Jodo Yatra that has covered over 1,000km, listened to a litany of such complaints from farmers, jobless youths, women’s self-help groups and various kinds of businessmen.
Millions have joined the Yatra in appreciation of the issues it has raised: social discord, economic inequality, unemployment and high prices.
There are 30,000 to 40,000 marchers any given evening, the number swelling to more than 1 lakh at some places. But for the ruling BJP, the walkathon is a comical exercise led by an isolated Rahul Gandhi.
The BJP has persistently combated the Yatra with innuendos and false assertions rather than respond to the substantive concerns.
On Sunday, the BJP put out an animation video to lampoon Rahul with a spoof on the comic scene from the film Sholay where the jailor played by Asrani is caught alone after his silly order of “Aadhe idhar jao, aadhe udhar jao (Half of you go this way and the other half go that way)”.
The video shows Rahul starting the Yatra with thugs, criminals and pickpockets with placards reading “Bharat tere tukde honge (India, you will be cut to pieces).”
It goes on to suggest that the defections in Goa and the rebellion by Ghulam Nabi Azad have depleted Rahul’s strength.
He is then left all alone after the order: “Aalu ki factory waale dayen jao, sona banana waale bayen jao, baki mere peechhe aao (Those who run the potato factory go right, those who manufacture gold go left and the rest follow me).”
Rahul is then shown crying alone on the road with Sonia Gandhi consoling him: “Mera raja beta (My darling son), don’t cry.”
While most Congress leaders felt the video was not worth dignifying with comments, party communications chief Jairam Ramesh responded with a tweet.
“BJP’s latest formula to counter the success of Bharat Jodo Yatra: Frustration + Desperation = Animation. To call the video they have put out pathetic is an understatement,” he wrote.
Some Congress leaders posted the BJP video along with videos of the actual response to the Yatra to expose the claim that Rahul was alone.
Party social media head Supriya Shrinate confronted the BJP with an animation video that shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi running away from questions about jobs and petrol prices.
This video also shows people standing with placards reading “liar” as Modi makes new promises after failing to usher in “achchhe din”.
For all the BJP’s claims of Rahul being alone, the sustained participation of thousands every day has turned the spectacular Yatra into a democratic wonder.
The potato-gold jibe derives from an edited video that the BJP had circulated a few years ago. It showed Rahul saying: “Aalu ki factory lagegi. Idhar se alu daloge, udhar se sona niklega (A potato factory will come up. You shall put in potato from this side and gold will come out from the other side).”
The irony is that Rahul was purportedly quoting Modi — who had at a public meeting said he could turn potato to gold, explaining the benefits of his potato export policy — and asking what had happened to that promise.
The Congress had later put out the full video, and fact-checkers too had called out the sleight of hand.
