Kanyakumari, September 08, 2022 (PPI-OT):Surpassing the expectations of the most ardent of his followers and belying disparaging criticism from rivals, Rahul Gandhi launched his life’s biggest political activity – a walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir that will stretch non-stop for 200-odd days, to try to change the opinion of a majority of Indians about their biggest current political icon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As the inheritor and privileged scion-turned-political underdog took the stage at India’s southernmost tip of land – against the backdrop of the feisty fusion of three mighty seas – thousands of Congress leaders and activists assembled from all parts of India erupted with euphoric energy.
On the stage were two Congress Chief Ministers, Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, several former Union ministers and former CMs, MPs, PCC chiefs, and functionaries of the AICC, CWC, Youth Congress, Mahila Congress, Seva Dal and the NSUI, among others. The Congress pantheon, or whatever is left of it.
But in the integrating spirit of the political walkathon ahead, it had Indians from most states, languages, castes, religions and social strata. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin did not take the stage at the Congress meeting, but came to the venue and met Mr Gandhi with warmth and camaraderie, to wish him well for the excruciating-yet-significant challenge.
Addressing the gathering, which erupted with a frenzied ovation the moment he took the rostrum, Mr Gandhi delivered one of his best speeches that was simple, clear, singular in purpose, precise in its message, sincere and touching. He spoke of how the Indian flag promised rights and powers to each individual and each of our national institutions.
Yet, today, Mr Modi, the BJP and the RSS are taking away those rights and weakening these institutions. Judiciary, Parliament, Opposition, and media are all being threatened, crushed and controlled, to take away from us what the flag promises us, Mr Gandhi argued.
The reluctant Congress president-transformed-uncompromising warrior Gandhi said, “Like the British, Mr Modi divides us. He tries to make Indians fight amongst ourselves, even as a handful of his favourite crony businesses, operating like the East India Company, loot the nation.” Thanking the people of Tamil Nadu for their love, calling it a state he loved visiting, Mr Gandhi stirred a strong emotional reaction: people were aware he was talking of a state where his father was killed.
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