Rahul's visit unites two communities torn apart post-1993 clash

Rahul and leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah at the Khadi Gramodyoa Kendra at Badanavalu village of Nanjangud taluk. DH Photo

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary and said while it is convenient for those in power to appropriate the legacy of the Father of the Nation, it is difficult to walk in his footsteps.

Rahul, who was at a Khadi Gramodyog Kendra here that Gandhi had visited in 1927 and 1932, said the ideology that killed the freedom fighter had delivered inequality and divisiveness in the last eight years.

He also participated in a prayer meeting at the Kendra. The Congress leader paid floral tributes to a statue of the Mahatma.

In a statement, Rahul said, “We are on the 25th day of the Bharat Jodo yatra, in which we are walking his path of ahimsa, unity, equality and justice.”

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He said the Congress yatra is the quiet and determined voice of the people against the politics of fear, hatred and division.

Rahul will cover a distance of 511 km in Karnataka over the next few days.

On Sunday morning, he left Tandavapura, where he stayed overnight, for Badanavalu.

He attended the bhajan programme presented by popular singer Sangeetha Katti Kulkarni.

He interacted with the women who lost their jobs at the Kendra, due to short supply of materials and listened to their grievances. Rahul planted a sapling on the premises.

The roads to the areas where the Lingayats and Dalits reside were not in use, following a clash in 1993, in the aftermath of a murder at Badanavalu.

The organisers used the ‘yatra’ as an opportunity to connect the two streets and laid the tiles for the new road, named as ‘Bharat Jodo road’.

Rahul inaugurated the 180-metre road by laying the tiles as part of ‘shram daan’ (voluntary work).

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Local leader Kalale Keshavamurthy said the leaders of the two communities were convinced to bury the hatchet. Accordingly, the road was repaired. Residents also participated in the ‘shram daan’. The funds for the purpose were collected from the people of the village.

The Congress leader also participated in ‘saha pankti bhojana’ (mass dining with the villagers). This is seen as a step to resolve the differences between the Lingayat and Dalit communities, following the 1993 clash.

Residents said it was the first time in 29 years that people of the two communities had come together.

Rahul was accompanied by KPCC president D K Shivakumar, leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala, K C Venugopal and others.