Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said attempts were made to destroy his image after he raised the two issues of land rights of tribals and exploitations of the poor.

“When I joined politics, all media of the country used to do ‘wah, wah’ for me 24 hours until 2008-09. Do you remember? Then I raised two issues and everything changed,” Rahul said in the video which is a collection of his Bharat Jodo speeches and also clips of his initial days in politics.

“I raised two issues — one was Niyamgiri and the second was Bhatta Parsaul. The moment I raised the question of land and the moment I started to defend the right of the poor people on the land is when the whole media tamasha started. We brought PESA Act for tribals and other laws for their land rights.

And then the media started writing against me 24 hours,” Rahul said.

“The assets of India which originally belonged to the Maharajas were given to the public through the Constitution. But BJP is doing the opposite of it. They are giving those assets back to ‘maharajas’ taking them from you,” Rahul added.

Rahul had protested Niyamgiri land acquisition for Vedanta’s mining operation in Odisha calling it illegal The permission was finally denied. Bhatta, Parsaul in Uttar Pradesh witnessed a massive farmers’ protest in 2011 over land acquisition. Rahul visited the farmers’ protest against the then Mayawati Government and it remained one of the most remarkable moments of Rahul’s journey in politics.

“The beauty of it is that it does not work. Truth has this nasty habit of poking its head from here and there. The more they spend to besmirch my image, they will be giving more strength to me because the truth can’t be suppressed. When you fight a major force, you will be attacked personally. So I know when I am attacked personally that I am on the right track,” he said.

“This is my guru. This teaches me which side to choose. And I am going forward in my fight. As long as I am going forward, everything is fine,” Rahul said in a video message.

Alleging that it was the BJP which spent thousands of crores to damage his image over the years, Rahul claimed the attempt would backfire since he was supported by the “truth”.

In the video message shared on various social media platforms by the Congress, Rahul said that even though his opponents spent huge amounts of money to destroy his image the beauty of it is that it does not work.

“BJP spent thousands of crores of rupees to spoil my image. They created a certain image of me. People think it is harmful... but it is beneficial for me because the truth is with me. Personal attacks on me tell me that I’m going in the right direction,” Rahul said.

“Truth has this nasty habit of poking its head from here and there. The more they spend to besmirch my image, they will be giving more strength to me because the truth can’t be suppressed. When you fight a major force, you will be attacked personally. So I know when I am attacked personally that I am on the right track,” Rahul said who is on his Bharat Jodo Yatra.