Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, leading the 150-day Bharat Jodo yatra, said on Saturday that he believes in 'tapasya' and that he wants an element of suffering while interacting with the people.
Addressing mediapersons in Turuvekere town on the sidelines of the march, Rahul Gandhi stated that not just him, his entire family believes in the concept of 'tapasya'.
He was responding to questions on how the rally has changed him as a person. "Along this padyatra, communication with people, I wanted an element of suffering for myself.
"I didn't want the march to be easy. I was wanting to do something which would make me suffer. While I am talking to my people, I can share my sufferings. That was the idea.
"So, I find that to be a very powerful experience. When you are walking on the road and speaking to your people, after suffering, the communication is better.
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"For me, it's been a learning experience. It began 31 days ago but for me the learning has not yet begun. I can already see the advantages of this type of communication," Rahul Gandhi explained.
"Also, the interaction with people is the most beautiful part of the journey. But unfortunately, things I say get distorted. When I am speaking in front of cameras, those behind it distort my words.
"There is tremendous wisdom among our people but it gets wasted by the kind of politics we are running. They have a lot to say but are unable because of the political system. I am also getting a huge amount of support, I don't mean by numbers but from individuals whom I interact with," he added.
Thousands of crores spent on media to shape me wrong: Rahul Gandhi
While leading 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday stated that thousands of crores have been spent to shape him untruthful.
Addressing a press conference at Turuvekere town in Tumakuru district, he stated that "the thing to understand is I always stand for certain ideals. That of course disturbs the BJP, RSS and other forces. Thousands of crores of media money or media energy has been spent in trying to shape me in a way which is just untruthful and wrong," he said.
"That machine is going to continue. It is a well oiled, financially rich machine. My truth is different. It is always different and people who care to look carefully will see what I stand for and what I work for," Rahul Gandhi explained.
"For me this yatra, of course, has a political element to it. For me, the main purpose of this yatra, I see in the political system, I don't just say, I say it across the board, a distance has developed between the political class and our citizens. The idea for me was to go right on the road and go close physically to our people. Now, this is very different than going in a car or in a plane or reaching out through the media," he said.
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Commenting on the charge by the BJP that all Congress leaders out on bail, Rahul Gandhi maintained that "as we know, BJP uses and the RSS also uses India's institutions to attack India's political class. This is the tactic they are using and this is how they topple the government, pressurize and every single person understands this in detail," he says.
"The objective of Bharat Jodo Yatra is to bring India together. Objective from my perspective is not the 2024 elections. I am seeing India is being divided, violence is being spread in our society and this is damaging for our country," Gandhi said.
Bharat Jodo Yatra is being taken up on three fundamental issues. First being the violence, the hatred BJP and RSS are spreading, the division of the country they are carrying out. The second issue is the massive concentration of wealth they allow to happen. This is resulting in few people getting very very rich and which is resulting in the destruction of the Indian backbone economy, small and medium businesses and farmers. This is resulting in unemployment. India is heading towards an unemployment disaster. Third is the massive increase in prices," he stated.
