ALLADURG (SANGAREDDY): Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) convener Jairam Ramesh, a Congress Working Committee (CWC) member, said that the padayatra of party leader Rahul Gandhi was in no way related to the elections. It was not a ‘chunav jeeto yatra (a yatra to win elections)’ but aimed at uniting Congress leaders and strengthening the party from the grassroot level.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on the sidelines of the yatra, Ramesh said, “Winning and losing elections is part and parcel of politics.” The yatra was a long battle against divisive forces. He said that the party had the option to postpone the yatra’s Telangana leg to avoid a clash with the Munugode byelection campaign but then it was a parallel track.
He said the main aims of the yatra were waging a battle against the divisive forces, going about an ideological fight and an electoral battle. Ramesh said it would take time to bring these changes and there was no automatic link the to elections. Ramesh observed that the yatra was bringing in positive change among Congress leaders, including regular interactions over several issues.
On Telangana politics, Ramesh said the alliance with the Telugu Desam for the 2018 state elections was disastrous and the party was in two minds over forging political alliances.
On the Munugode byelection results, Ramesh said the BJP candidate Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy was basically a contractor who was more worried about his contracts than secularism, and pointed to the parties spending large amounts of money during the campaign.
