Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the government is coming up with 'excuses' to stop the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', days after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to him to consider suspending the march if Covid protocols could not be followed.
The yatra, which started in Kanyakumari on September 7 and will conclude in Kashmir, is in Haryana, after covering Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
"This yatra will go to Kashmir. Now, they have come out with a new idea. They wrote me a letter that Covid was spreading, stop the yatra," Gandhi said while addressing a gathering in Ghasera village in Haryana's Nuh district.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him entered the state through Nuh on Wednesday after its Rajasthan leg.
"Now, they are coming up with excuses to stop the yatra. Wear masks, stop the yatra, Covid is spreading, these are all excuses," he said.
Union Health Minister Mandaviya on Tuesday wrote to former Congress president Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to consider suspending the yatra if Covid protocols could not be followed.
Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in power at the Centre and in Haryana, Gandhi said it is scared of the truth.
"Hindustan ki shakti say, Hindustan ki sachai say, yeh log dar gaye hai, yeh sachai hai (they have got scared of power and truth of the country. This is the truth)," the former Congress chief said, adding that 'we do not want RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi's hate-filled India'.
They are trying to spread fear and hatred in the country, he alleged.
Understand the character of Modi, when anyone stands against him, be it farmers who protested against the now-repealed three farm laws, he starts running in the opposite direction, Gandhi alleged.
"You recognise (him). Whenever anyone stands against him, Modi does not face him, (he) runs away and leaves the field," Gandhi said.
The BJP government is also trying to suppress the (opposition) Congress' voice in Parliament and this is also a reason why this yatra was taken out, Gandhi said.
The Winter Session of Parliament began on December 7 and will end on December 23, a week ahead of schedule.
"If we want to speak in Parliament or raise an issue such as the Rafale jet matter, demonetisation, GST (Goods and Services Tax) or regarding hatred spreading in the country, do you know what happens? The mic is switched off... keep on speaking, (but) no one will hear," he said.
"The TV camera's direction is changed and the (Lok Sabha) speaker's face is visible and the mic is switched off in Parliament," Gandhi said, and added that 'this is why, we had to take out this yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir'.
The yatra has been going on for more than 100 days and in this people from all faiths, including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, and men, women, and children have taken part, he said at Ghasera, which is also known as Gandhi gram as Mahatma Gandhi had visited it during the Partition and asked Muslims not to migrate to Pakistan.
The yatra has spread the message of love and brotherhood, the Congress leader said, reiterating that he is 'opening a shop of love in the market of hate'.
"When a farmer faces a problem, entire India protects him, if a labourer faces any difficulty, then the entire country helps him out. We want such an India...We do not want RSS, Narendra Modi's hate filled India. Nobody wants it," he said.
This country is not of the coward but of the brave, and this was shown by the yatra, which has completed 3,000 km, Gandhi said.
"I did not walk alone. Thousands of people walked with me," he said.
This yatra has shown that this country is not scared of anyone and 'the day this country stands together, hatred and violence will come to an end', the Congress leader said.
The march started with the slogan 'woh todenge, hum jodenge', 'but we have to go a step ahead and say, 'hum unhe todne nahin denge' (we will not allow them to break)', Gandhi said.
Senior Congress leaders including Randeep Singh Surjewala, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, K C Venugopal, Kumari Selja, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan and Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav were also present in the yatra.
The yatra on its second day in Haryana, started from Malab village in Nuh and several people, including children, joined it as it passed through Ghasera and Sohna in Gurugram district.
It will halt for the night at Lakhwas Sohna before moving to Faridabad district on Friday.
Accusing the government of selectively picking on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh at press conference in New Delhi said Mandaviya's letter to Rahul Gandhi over following Covid protocols in the march was based on concerns raised by three BJP MPs and not on advice of experts or scientists.
"If there is advice of experts or any protocol is to be followed on the advice of any medical health, public health or scientific institution, it becomes our responsibility to follow that. We will oppose a political protocol but not a scientific protocol," he said.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Ramesh said Mandaviya in his letter to Gandhi cited concerns raised by three BJP MPs over the spread of coronavirus.
"The letter is not based on any scientific advise or advice from experts, but on basis of letters of MPs, and the health minister suddenly writes to Rahul Gandhi," Ramesh said.
He asserted that each 'Bharatyatri' taking part in the yatra is fully vaccinated and 'many have also got a booster dose'.
"There has not been a single case of Covid in the Bharat Jodo Yatra so far," he said.
