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As Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor fight it out for the Congress chief’s post, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday described both as people of stature and understanding, and asserted that it was insulting to suggest that either of them can be remote-controlled by the Gandhi family as party president.
Addressing a press conference here during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said lakhs of people have joined the yatra as they are tired of the type of politics being done under the BJP and the prevailing unemployment, price rise and economic inequality.
A day after Gautam Adani pledged huge investments in Rajasthan, Gandhi, who has often accused the Modi government of favouring the industrialist, said the Congress government in the state has not given any preferential treatment to the businessman, and asserted that he is not against corporates but monopolies.
Asked about criticism from certain quarters that the next Congress president could be remote-controlled by the Gandhi family, the former party chief said, „Both the people who are standing (in the polls) have a position, have a perspective and are people of stature and people of understanding. I don’t think either of them is going to be a remote control (chief) and frankly, this tone is insulting to both of them.“
Asked why he did not contest the polls, Gandhi said his reasons are there in his resignation letter that he gave while quitting the party chief’s post in 2019.
Elections to the Congress president’s post will take place on October 17 and results will be announced on October 19.
Gandhi said by nature he believes in ‚tapasya‘ and wanted an element of suffering in this communication to people through the Bharat Jodo Yatra which seeks to cover a distance of about 3,500 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir on foot.
He also said the party is opposing the new education policy as it is „an attack on the ethos of our country, it distorts our history, culture“.
„We are opposing the policy as it concentrates power in the hands of a few people and centralises the education system. We want a decentralised education system. We want an education system that reflects our history, tradition and languages,“ Gandhi added.
Asked about reported infighting in the Congress unit in poll-bound Karnataka, with former chief minister Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar engaged in a tussle, Gandhi said, „We are not a fascist party, we are a party that believes in conversation, we are a party that believes in discussion and we are perfectly happy to have different viewpoints in the party.
