new delhi: Terming the Bharat Jodo Yatra a "life saver," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said that the cross-country grassroots campaign will see the party emerge in a new "aggressive" avatar that cannot be taken for granted by either friends or political adversaries.
A day after former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and scores of party workers began a 3,570 km campaign from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, the party's general secretary in-charge communications slammed the BJP for its criticism of the yatra.
The more the BJP talks about it, the more evident it is that the party is rattled, Ramesh said after the morning session of the yatra.
"I am 100 per cent sure that this Bharat Jodo Yatra is the 'sanjivani' for the Congress as it's a life saver and it is going to revive the Congress. It is going to refresh the Congress and it will renew the Congress. The yatra will make Congress in a new avatar," Ramesh said.
"It will be a more aggressive Congress, it will be a more active Congress, it will be an 'on-the-street' Congress and... a Congress that cannot be taken for granted anymore, either by friends or by its political adversaries," Ramesh said, adding that we have been taken for granted even by our friends and allies, not just by our political opponents and adversaries.
"We may not be in power but we certainly have a presence in every mohalla, village, town, it is very clear and very apparent," Ramesh said.
Asked about the BJP's criticism, Ramesh said, "This is the Bharat Jodo Yatra. I am not bothered by what the BJP says. I am focused exclusively on the Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra. The more the BJP talks about the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the more it is evident that it is rattled."
Meanwhile, pushing the candidature of Rahul Gandhi for Congress president, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday reiterated that Rahul should lead the party as he was leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra
"All the Congress leaders want Rahul Gandhi to lead the party," Gehlot said.
While attacking the BJP, Gehlot said, "When we are taking out the yatra, why is the BJP worried? They are worried because the Congress is exposing them."