'Stay on Phone, Chant Jai Shri Ram & Starve to Death': Rahul Gandhi's Latest Attack on PM Modi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again courted controversy during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur. “Narendra Modi wants people to sit on their phone the entire day and chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. And while you do this, you die of hunger,” Gandhi said.

The video clip of his speech, raking up the temple politics, comes on a day when the Wayanad MP himself is scheduled to offer prayers at Mahakaleshwar Temple.

Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh told news agency ANI, “Today (Tuesday) is the 52nd day of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and at around 2 pm, Rahul Gandhi will offer prayers at Mahakaleshwar Temple. Ujjain is very important for us as it is the only city that was in Bharat Jodo Yatra and is also in our Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. On November 29, 2022, Rahul Gandhi visited Mahakaleshwar Temple and today again he is visiting there.”

Reacting to the row, Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla told News18, “There is a competition of ‘competitive appeasement politics’ between all the allies of INDI alliance. Somebody says ‘Ramcharitmanas is potassium cyanide. Somebody says ‘Ram Mandir is gulami ki nishaani‘. Somebody says ‘Hindu dharm is dhokha‘. Rahul Gandhi has to undo all of them so that he can wear the biggest cap of appeasement politics. So therefore, he is making more ridiculous statements.”

Gandhi’s statement also comes at a time when some Congress leaders had expressed their disappointment over the party rejecting Ram Mandir’s ‘pran prathishtha‘ on January 22.

Congress MLA and Himachal Pradesh’s high-profile minister, Vikramaditya Singh, was seen at the Ayodhya event, challenging the party’s official stance.

Sudhir Sharma, another Congress MLA from Himachal Pradesh, also participated in the consecration ceremony of the temple.

Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Pramod Krishnam had termed Congress’ decision of not attending Ayodhya temple ceremony as “unfortunate” and “suicidal”, while Congress functionaries from Gujarat called it “disappointing”.

Congress working president Ambarish Der had written on X: “Such statements are disappointing for Gujarat Congress workers like me.”

“It is natural that the faith of countless people across India has been attached to this newly-constructed temple over the years. Some people of the Congress party should maintain distance from that particular kind of statement and respect the public sentiment wholeheartedly,” Der had added.