Congress leaders went to the taps at Sevagram and scrubbed their plates clean
Highlights
- At Congress meet in Wardha, Gandhian symbolism was there for all to see
- After lunch at Gandhi Ashram, Congress leaders were seen washing plates
- Rahul Gandhi planted a sapling near tree planted by Rajiv Gandhi in 1986
Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi and other top Congress leaders were seen washing their plates in a video from Wardha in Maharashtra, where the party has gathered for a leadership meet heavy on symbolism on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.
After lunch at Sevagram, the ashram where Mahatma Gandhi spent his last few years, the Congress leaders went to the taps and scrubbed their plates clean.
The Congress held a prayer meeting to pay tribute on Gandhi's 149th birth anniversary. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh also participated in the tribute held at Bapu Kuti, which was home to Mahatma Gandhi.
The Sevagram ashram is around 10 km from Wardha.
Rahul Gandhi planted a sapling in the ashram next to a tree his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had planted in 1986. This is the Congress present's second visit to the ashram since January 2014, months before the party was voted out of power after 10 years.
He also led a foot march to mark the start of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary celebrations and to give a message against what the party called the "atmosphere of fear" in the country.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel tweeted that this is the second meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Wardha, 76 years after the session in which the party's iconic leaders embraced Mahatma Gandhi's call for a "Quit India" movement against the British.
The Quit India movement, launched in Mumbai on August 8 1942, was a turning point in the freedom struggle.
Ahmed Patel also commented that the Congress party practised the politics of "sadbhavna" (inclusiveness). "Paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi is not new for us. It is the BJP which is remembering Gandhiji and Sardar Patel now," he told reporters.
The Congress, which has weakened considerably in elections held since 2014, is aiming at a comeback at the centre in the 2019 national polls.