Congress felt trapped, isolated; Undertook Bharat Jodo Yatra to reconnect: Rahul Gandhi

Hyderabad: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has claimed that he conducted the Bharat Jodo Yatra because his party felt "completely trapped and isolated" and "not allowed" to function as they desired.

Addressing the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha said, "Some years ago, we in the Congress Party felt completely trapped and isolated. This new politics, aggressive politics, a politics where the opposition is not talked to, but the idea is to crush the opposition, and we found that all our avenues were compromised.”

Elaborating further, Rahul Gandhi said that the media, the general atmosphere, did not allow them to operate the way they would like, and so they reached back into history. “We decided to walk from Kanyakumari all the way to Kashmir, where I was yesterday. I essentially learned two things from that walk. Our opposition across the world has a monopoly on anger, fear and hatred, and there's no way that we are ever going to be able to compete with them on anger, fear and hatred,” he said.

The Leader of the Opposition also said that they are going to outdo them, outmaneuver them and beat them every single time when it comes to fear, anger and hatred. “So the question is, where and how do we operate? Where are the spaces where we have the advantage? Where are the spaces from which we can build a counterattack? Our opposition really does not know how to listen because they already have all the answers,” Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress leader further said that they know exactly what is supposed to be done and this is completely flawed because it is the people who know what has to be done. “If there is one thing that we have failed at with all the social media and all the modern communication methods, it is that we, as politicians, have failed to deeply listen to what our people are trying to tell us. And this is the space where we can really operate because our opponents have completely vacated this space, they're not there, they don't exist there,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said, “The Telangana State is endowed with a rich history and a unique culture and traditions. People of Telangana, which was part of united Andhra Pradesh, struggled for a separate state for many decades. Students, trade unions, farmers and women actively participated and led the Telangana movement. Their struggle yielded results and a separate state of Telangana was formed.”

Revanth Reddy also said that, unfortunately, the aspirations of the people have not been fulfilled for the last 10 years in the separate Telangana state. People gave a mandate to the Congress and the People’s Government is striving to fulfill the aspirations of all sections of society, including students, youth, farmers, women and the oppressed castes in particular, he said.

Highlighting the achievements of the Congress government, the chief minister said that the state government introduced the biggest welfare schemes in the history of India. The government waved off Rs 20,617 crore farm loans of 25.50 lakh farmers on August 15, 2024. Telangana farmers are freed from the mounting debt burden on Independence Day. Providing 24-hour free electricity to farmers in the state. A Rs. 12,000 input subsidy is given per acre under Rythu Bharosa every year. Landless farm laborers are getting Rs 12,000 per year.

The government is providing Rs. 20,000 crore in financial assistance to the landless and land-owning farmers in the agriculture sector every year. Apart from the Minimum Support Price (MSP), the government is also providing a Rs. 500 bonus per quintal to the farmers who cultivate the fine paddy variety. Rythu Bhima and Crop insurance benefits are also being given to the farmers. “We have also started Young India Skills University to develop skills among the unemployed youth and also recruited 60,000 government jobs in the first year of the People’s government. Launched Rajiv Yuva Vikasam Yojana to provide financial assistance to 5 lakh youth,” he said.

Revanth Reddy also said that the Congress created a history by formulating people-centric policies in the country. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, focused on irrigation and education. Indira Gandhi strove to eradicate poverty with a slogan of “Roti, Kapada aur Makaan”. The three Congress Prime Ministers, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao and Dr. Manmohan Singh focused on global technological revolutions like modernization, development, telecom, and software. India has become the 5th largest economy in the world because of their unstinted efforts.

In a significant milestone, Congress leaders and global delegates collectively adopted the Hyderabad Resolution, a 44-point agenda under the theme 'Delivering Global Justice'. The resolution reaffirms a shared commitment to the values of freedom, equality, justice, and solidarity, uniting social-democratic, socialist, and labor movements from around the world. Key agenda items include: reshaping the economic paradigm, advancing environmental justice, striving for gender equality and social inclusion, defending democracy and social justice, working for peace and human security, and reforming global institutions.