Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday disclosed why he chose to wear a T-shirt during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in biting cold.
Talking to the media on the sidelines of the yatra in Ambala, Rahul, whose T-shirt has often been the talk of the social and political corridors, said his decision was aimed at uplifting the morale of those poor children who are compelled to brave chilly winter without warm clothes.
Rahul narrated an incident in Madhya Pradesh when the yatra passed through the State last month and said it made him think about wearing a T-shirt and feel cold.
“One fine morning at 6 in our Madhya Pradesh leg of the yatra, which till then had crossed the sultry summer of southern India, including humid climes of Kerala, three poor girls joined me in the interest of having a photo with me. When I held their hands to bring them closer for the snap, I realised they shivered with cold.
“Then and there I decided to continue wearing a T-shirt to feel the severity of the cold. When these poor girls will have access to warm clothes then I will comfortably wear a sweater,” Rahul said to a huge round of applause at the nukkad event in Ambala.
Rahul’s T-shirt has been making news everyday both in political circles and even in social media networks. He himself has faced a number of questions by the media during the last one month on this count. He has always dismissed such questions saying the real issue is not his T-shirt, but the plight of children, farmers and labourers of India, who are forced to walk around without warm clothes during winter.
Earlier in a veiled attack in the same event, Rahul dubbed RSS as “21st century Kauravas”. “Who were the Kauravas? I will first tell you about the 21st century Kauravas, they wear khakhi half-pants, they carry lathi in hand and hold shakhas.... India’s 2-3 billionaires are standing with the Kauravas,” Rahul alleged, referring to the RSS.
“Did the Pandavas do demonetisation, implement the wrong GST? Would they have ever done so? Never. Why? Because they were tapasvis and they knew that demonetisation, wrong GST, farm laws are a way to steal from tapasvis of this land.... (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi did sign on these decisions, but the power of India’s 2-3 billionaires was behind it, whether you agree or not.” he said.
“People don’t understand this, but the fight which was at that time, it is the same today. Between whom is this fight? Who were Pandavas? Arjuna, Bhim...They used to do tapasya,” he further said. He asked the gathering if they had heard about the Pandavas spreading hatred on this land and doing any crime against an innocent person.
“On one hand there were these five tapasvis and on the other hand there was a crowded organisation. With the Pandavas, there were people of all religions. Like this (Bharat Jodo) Yatra, nobody asks anyone from where he comes. It is a shop of love. The Pandavas had also stood against injustice, they too had opened a shop of love in the market of hate,” Rahul said.