Rahul Gandhi’s ambitious ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is in the news once again, but this time for all the wrong reasons. A viral video of a wrong song being played instead of the National Anthem for a few minutes during a stop in Maharashtra on Wednesday has triggered a row, with the BJP slamming the Congress for the blunder.
Sharing a video of the incident, Maharashtra BJP leader Nitesh Rane tweeted: “Papu ka comedy circus.” Tamil Nadu BJP leader Amar Prasad Reddy too shared the same video and wrote, “Rahul Gandhi, what is this?”
The live telecast of the Yatra confirmed that the incident took place in Maharashtra’s Washim district as Gandhi ended his speech. There was an announcement for the National Anthem, which Rahul Gandhi too repeated on the microphone. As the leaders on the stage took their place, music played for a few seconds before Gandhi gestured to the leaders and the music was stopped. Later, Jana Gana Mana was played.
The incident also invited criticism from several social media users who expressed disbelief at the leaders taking a long time to understand the gaffe. The Congress has not reacted to the row so far.
The ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, a mass contact initiative of the Congress, entered Maharashtra on November 7 in Nanded district. Besides Nanded, it has so far covered Hingoli and Washim districts of the state.
The foot march will cover Akola and Buldhana districts of Maharashtra before proceeding to Madhya Pradesh on November 20.
The Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena leaders, allies of the Congress in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), have participated in the yatra in Maharashtra.
On Wednesday, Gandhi targeted the Centre and the BJP, claiming their policies have destroyed the Indian economy and broken the back of farmers.
He said small and medium business enterprises, and not big industrial houses, generate large-scale employment, but they were at the receiving end of the Centre’s 2016 note-ban exercise and the way Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented in 2017.
With inputs from News18
The post Row over national anthem faux pas at Rahul’s yatra first appeared on IPA Newspack.
