BJP veteran Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said two yatras led by Rahul Gandhi, in 2022 and 2024, had a detrimental effect on the Congress as several leaders of the party either quit or lost elections.
Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra culminated in Mumbai on March 16. A day later, the INDIA bloc launched its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections at a rally, attended by several Opposition leaders, in the Maharashtra capital.
The two Yatras carried out by Gandhi turned out to be "Congress Todo, Congress Chhodo" (Break Congress, Leave Congress), said Chouhan, who is in the fray from the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency in MP.
"Congress faced defeat wherever Gandhi's Yatras passed. The Nyay Yatra did an injustice to Congress. Congress (leaders) either got defeated or left the party wherever Gandhi's Yatras passed," the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra involved a foot march from Kanyakumari to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in 2022.
The Nyay Yatra started in January 2024 from Thoubal in Manipur and culminated in Mumbai on March 16, spanning east-west of India.
Notably, assembly elections were held in 2022 in Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, and Himachal Pradesh. BJP managed to retain power in several states. The year 2022 also saw assembly byelections in some states.
Chouhan also asked Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to clarify why the Congress refused the invitation for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
He also questioned the "silence" of Congress on Sandeshkhali incidents in West Bengal, saying "Was it not the politics of appeasement?" Chouhan alleged that Congress leaders are continuously making derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the world's most popular leader.
The BJP leader also sought a reply from Congress over Sonia Gandhi not contesting Lok Sabha elections.
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