BJP takes a jibe at Digvijaya Singh’s Narmada Parikrama

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, took a jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s “silence” over senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh completing his Narmada Parikrama on Sunday.

State BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari tweeted his congratulations to Digvijaya Singh on completing the Parikrama and added that Rahul Gandhi’s ignoring the yatra for six months despite his (Digvijaya’s) working for the Gandhi family his entire life underlined the fate of senior leaders and social issues in the Congress. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel had tweeted his congratulations to Singh on the eve of his completion itself.

“Tomorrow (Sunday) Digvijaya Singh ji & colleagues will complete the 3,300 km Narmada Parikrama on foot after a 5 and a half month long arduous journey. This is a significant achievement. I commend their perseverance, dedication and above all their conviction to protect the Narmada.”

He immediately corrected the duration in another tweet as ‘six months and nine days’.

Justifying his Monday tweet Kothari said, “After Narmada Parikrama, Digvijaya Singh said it was the Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former president Sonia Gandhi who would decide his role in the party. But none of the Congress leaders from Delhi, chose to attend his yatra during the past more than six months.”

He said this showed that Digvijaya Singh undertook the Parikrama to revive his political career and make his presence felt in the Congress.

Responding to the Kothari’s comments, state Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra said Digvijaya Singh had already made it clear that the Narmada Parikrama was a personal and religious yatra. Hence, BJP should avoid playing politics on the subject. “In fact, BJP can never understand the meaning of Narmada Parikrama. BJP leaders undertake parikrama of Narmada in aircrafts whereas Digvijaya Singh undertook 3300-km long yatra afoot. This shows the contrast between the thinking of Congress and that of the BJP leaders on what Narmada Parikrama really is”, he added.

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