Visuals of Rahul Gandhi in a T-shirt in Delhi's single digit temperatures have sparked a buzz
As viral visuals of Rahul Gandhi in a T-shirt at the memorials of former Prime Ministers sparked a buzz on his indifference to Delhi's cold wave, the Congress took a swipe at Union Minister Pralhad Joshi who had said that Mr Gandhi would suspend his Bharat Jodo Yatra for a trip abroad.
Addressing the media, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "A BJP leader had said Rahul Gandhi would travel abroad for a Christmas break. But when the minister and BJP leader, wrapped up in a blanket in the severe cold, was busy breaking the country, Mr Gandhi was paying tributes at the memorials of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee." While Ms Shrinate did not name the BJP leader, the target of her remarks was Mr Joshi, who had predicted that the Yatra would be paused as Mr Gandhi travels abroad for a Christmas break.
Mr Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra is currently at the centre of a heated exchange between the Congress and the ruling BJP. It all started when Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to Mr Gandhi, flagging Covid spread risks in the Yatra. The Congress MP responded by saying that such moves are "excuses" aimed at stopping the yatra.
Soon after, it was decided that the Parliament's winter session would end a week before it was scheduled to.
Against this backdrop, Congress's communications head Jairam Ramesh said Opposition leaders had earlier sought an early end to the session. "The (Narendra) Modi government, which never listens, suddenly responded so that Bharat Jodo Yatra can be defamed by using the Covid argument," he tweeted in Hindi.
Hitting back, Union Minister Joshi had said Congress leaders "sang different tunes". "They demanded curtailing session on December 23, and now you differ."
"It is strange to hear those people talk about Parliament's functioning who pause their Yatra to leave for vacation and those who did not attend even a single day of session," the Union minister had tweeted in a swipe at Mr Gandhi, who could not attend the session due to the yatra.
In a rebuttal, Mr Ramesh had told news agency ANI that he would apologise if Mr Joshi's claims are proven correct. "But if the allegations are proven wrong, then he must apologise publicly," he had said.
Pushing the apology demand, Ms Shrinate today said, "Jairam sir had said they must apologise for this lie. Today, yet again, they have been caught lying. Will the army of Mafiveers apologise? Apologising is their old habit so it should not be a problem," she said.
"Mafiveer" was a word play on the centre's Agnipath scheme for recruitment to security forces. The Congress has opposed the new scheme, with Mr Gandhi recently claiming that it will lower the morale of the forces.
Ms Shrinate's "habit of apologising" remark was a swipe at Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, who had sent mercy petitions to the British when jailed during the freedom struggle.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Uttar Pradesh in the first week of January and then re-enter Haryana some days later before proceedings towards its destination Srinagar.