Opposition unity: Incensed by his alleged bid to sideline the Congress in his efforts to bring unity in the Opposition ranks, the party dubbed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s a “dreamer”.  Rao had kept the grand old party out of his scheme of Opposition unity.

Speaking to the media at Makthal as the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi resumed on Thursday in Telangana after a three-day Diwali break, the party’s and general secretary in-charge communications Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh accused the ruling TRS and its ally of providing oxygen to the BJP.

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“In Telangana, we have another challenge – the TRS which is the counterpart of BJP. The TRS practices the same politics as the politics of the BJP and RSS and AIMIM practices the same politics as the BJP and RSS. In fact both the TRS and AIMIM give oxygen to the BJP and the BJP gives a booster dose to TRS and AIMIM. So our objective in Telangana is not just focussed on the divisive politics of BJP but on the political activity and mobilisation of TRS and AIMIM,” said Ramesh while criticising the chief minister who has recently launched the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the national avatar of the TRS.

LIVE: Press briefing by Shri @Jairam_Ramesh in Telangana. #BharatJodoYatra https://t.co/frsAA5GUZy

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 27, 2022

Without naming Rao, he said, “Some people live in a dream world and think that Opposition unity is possible without the Congress. I should bring them down to earth and no Opposition unity is possible without a strong Congress party. People are entitled to their dreams. If they think Opposition unity is possible without Congress it simply is not going to be possible.”

He went on to say that  strengthening the Congress at the block and district levels was the aim of the Bharat Jodo Yatra since without a strong Congress there cannot be a strong Opposition to fight the BJP. He claimed that the yatra would be a decisive turning point in Telangana politics.

The Rajya Sabha was also quick to delink the yatra from the poll battle at Munugode. “This is not a yatra to win an election or to win Munugode, or to get votes for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh but to highlight three things – economic inequality, social polarisation and political dictatorship,” he clarified.

In the course of the Yatra, Rahul Gandhi will be meeting farmers, Dalits, women, tribal groups, minorities, said the former minister.

Asked about the action to be taken against party MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy who openly supported his brother, the BJP candidate from Munugode, Ramesh said: “Congress is a democratic party, we tolerate different viewpoints and opinions and people are free to say what they want to say. However, there is a Lakshman Rekha in all democratic parties. If you cross that Lakshman Rekha you will get a notice, you have to reply. If the reply is satisfactory then it is fine. If it is not then action is taken.”