Kamal Nath (right) with Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bhopal: Breaking his silence after a prolonged gap, particularly during rumours of Kamal Nath possibly quitting Congress, the leader made a strong appeal to workers to join the Bharat Jodo Nyay yatra in large numbers.
On his social media account, Kamal Nath stated on Friday that the people of the state and party workers are excited to welcome Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Nyay Jodo Yatra in MP.
The yatra is scheduled to cover a long distance in MP after entering Morena from Uttar Pradesh on March 2, exiting on February 6 from Sailana/Ratlam and entering the Rajasthan border.
During the yatra, Gandhi is scheduled to hold public meetings, interactive sessions with people, and road shows, among other activities.
Cities including Morena, Banmore, Gwalior, Ghatigaon, Mohna, Shivpuri, Badarwas, Kolaras, Guna, Raghogarh, Binaganj, Biora, Shajapur, Ujjain, Badnagar, Badnawar, Ratlam, and Sailana will be covered before further moving to Rajasthan. At Ujjain, Gandhi will visit Mahakaal Dham for darshan.
According to Congress sources, interactive sessions with tribals, dalits, and unemployed youths have been organized with an eye on election prospects.
Amid speculation of Nath switching sides to the BJP camp, which gained momentum after a post shared by former Congress leader and now BJP state spokesperson Narendra Saluja showed a picture of Kamal and Nakul Nath, captioned "Jai Shri Ram".
Nath did not deny or accept anything amidst a flurry of questions from the media except for the one-liner statement which Nath gave after reaching Delhi on February 17.
Nath said, "If any development takes place, I will inform you first."
Notably BJP’s national convention was held on February 17 and 18. Amidst this, and after cutting short his Chhindwara tour, Nath landed in Delhi, adding fuel to speculations of him joining the BJP before the top leadership.
Earlier, Nath had pledged his commitment to the Congress ideology, stating that the ideology of Congress is the ideology of truth, religion, and justice. He emphasized that there is equal place and respect for the ideology of Congress for all regions, castes, languages, and ideas of the country.
In the 138 years of the party history, most of the time has been spent in struggle and service, Nath observed, adding that in the freedom struggle movement, there was a competition among Congress leaders to serve the country in the struggle against dictatorship. Nation-building is the sole aim of Congress after independence, he also said.
On Friday, Nath stated in his post that 'our leader' Rahul Gandhi has declared a decisive fight against injustice, atrocities, and exploitation by taking to the streets across the country. He urged the people of Madhya Pradesh and the brave workers of the Congress to join the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in large numbers as a symbol of strength and courage to Rahul Gandhi.
Together, Nath expressed, they would carry this campaign against injustice to the end. He also expressed that the people of Madhya Pradesh and Congress workers are excited to welcome Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
Observers claim that the X post by Kamal Nath can be viewed as a nip in the bud, though Nakul Nath's role is yet to be ascertained and examined.
It is evident that Nath was unhappy with the Congress central leadership and the way he was sidelined after the poll debacle in MP. Digvijay Singh's close aide, and OBC face, Ashok Singh from Gwalior was nominated for an RS seat on Congress quota, instead of Nath, who is only an MLA now.
At the time when rumours were flowing thick and fast, senior Congress leaders, including Digvijay Singh and state PCC chief Jitu Patwari, strongly opposed and refuted these reports as baseless.
Singh questioned, "Nath was like the 3rd son to Gandhi family (Sanjay and Nath duo and Rajiv Gandhi), and how could you expect him to leave the party now?"
However, Nath's evasion of the media all these days only added more fuel to the fire. Reports suggest the deal meanwhile was brokered or tension released following a dialogue with Rahul Gandhi.