'Real' Rahul Gandhi emerging out of Bharat Jodo Yatra: Jairam Ramesh

The ''real'' Rahul Gandhi is emerging out of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which completed a month on Friday, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

In an interview to PTI during the yatra in Mandya district, Ramesh described the foot march as the longest-ever undertaken by anyone and said it will help the Congress strengthen itself psychologically.

He also described the Congress president's election as a ''side show'' and the yatra as the main show.

''It's a transformation of the Congress party and it shows the real Rahul Gandhi coming out. I would not say it is the new Rahul Gandhi but the real Rahul Gandhi that is being seen,'' Ramesh said.

He said Gandhi's interactions with civil society, party workers and his super fitness are what comprises the ''real Mr Rahul Gandhi''.

''The biggest achievement is psychological. It's all in the mind. I think what the yatra has done is to show to the Congress party that we can do it. ''We are on the roads, on the streets, we are fighting the BJP. We are taking the battle to their camp. We are raising issues. We are not reacting. Now the BJP is reacting to us and that I think is the greatest contribution of the yatra. It's psychological rather than electoral,'' the Congress leader said..

Asked about the Congress president's election, he said the ''houseful evening show is the Bharat Jodo yatra and the organisational election is a side show as far as I am concerned''.

''The narrative setting show is not the Congress president's election but the Bharat Jodo Yatra,'' he added.

On a non-Gandhi all set to lead the party, he said Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have a special place in the Congress because of their contributions and legacy.

Ramesh said when Jawaharlal Nehru became the Congress president for the first time in 1928, Mahatma Gandhi wrote to him saying you are wearing a crown of thorns. ''It's a crown of thorns. I think it's certainly a historic moment as we are the only political party to hold elections for the post of the president in a fair, transparent and an impartial manner. But as I said it is a side show. The main show is the Bharat jodo yatra,'' Ramesh said.

He said the yatra has got a boost by the presence of Sonia Gandhi, who is likely to return to the yatra soon.

''I am convinced that she is going to come back, based on the energy that she has shown this time,'' Ramesh said.

Asked about BJP's criticism of the yatra, he said the ruling party is rattled by the yatra's response and that is why they are making all kinds of statements.

''This is not a chunao jeeto yatra, this is a Bharat Jodo Yatra. This is a yatra against growing economic inequality, it's a yatra against growing social polarisation and it's a yatra against increasing political overcentralisation and I am glad these messages are repeated by high functionaries of the RSS, apart from Mr Nitin Gadkari and a few others. I don't take Mr Bommai seriously,'' Ramesh said.

He described Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai as a ''daily wager'', saying his own cabinet colleagues were describing the BJP government as a ''time pass government''.

Ramesh said the yatra's effect on the energy, the enthusiastic and exuberance of Congress workers and leaders is amazing. ''They are seeing the Congress leaders and workers on the ground. There were many skeptics within the Congress who said 'kya ye Bharat jodo yatra hogi','' the Rajya Sabha member and head of communications department said.

He added the response has silenced all those skeptics.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)