Saamana editorial supports Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, slams BJP for criticising initiative

Mumbai : The Shiv Sena, through its mouthpiece Saamana, Wednesday lashed out at its friend-turned-foe BJP for criticising and ridiculing Congress party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ led by Rahul Gandhi which commenced Wednesday from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. In an editorial, Shiv Sena extended its support to the Congress’s outreach programme and took a dig at BJP. It added that BJP’s criticism shows that the ruling party in the Centre is “till scared of Congress”, a party which is said to have been weakened and shattered. The editorial further stated, “As soon as the Congress party announced the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, the leaders and spokespersons of the BJP started criticising it. This simply means that BJP is still afraid of Congress. If it were not so, there would be no need to take notice of the so-called “desperate, disappointed and weakened Congress Yatra”.” It added, “It is clear that difficulties will increase if the Congress rises again. They are scared thinking what if Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi succeed in gaining public support? It is due to this fear that a personal criticism of ‘Bharat Jodo’ is on. This does not suit the largest political party in the country.” The editorial also appealed to the people to keep aside political differences and support the yatra.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra of Congress will start from Kanyakumari under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and will culminate in Kashmir after covering a distance of 3,570 km from South to North India. Congress has also coined a slogan for the yatra — ‘Mile Kadam Jude Watan’ — which loosely translates into the idea of uniting the country.