Lost my father to hate; will not lose my country: Rahul Gandhi

CHENNAI: Hours before launching the Bharat Jodo Yatra against the ruling BJP from Kanniyakumari, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday proclaimed that he will not lose the country to hate and he will conquer hate through love.

Rahul Gandhi posted a message to this effect on his official Twitter handle after offering floral tributes at his father Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial in Sriperumbudur this morning. “I lost my father to the politics of hate and division. I will not lose my beloved country to it too. Love will conquer hate. Hope will defeat fear. Together, we will overcome,” Rahul tweeted, posting a photograph of his offering prayer at the memorial.

Rahul will be leaving the city for Kanniyakumari to undertake the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a 3,570 km-long nationwide rally covering 12 states and a couple of union territories from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir in 150 days.

Chief Minister M K Stalin will launch the yatra by handing over the national flag to Rahul Gandhi at a function organised in Kanniyakumari later this evening.

The Congress hopes to revive its fortunes and up the ante against the ruling BJP for engineering economic disparity, social polarisation and political centralisation in the country. The former Congress president, accompanied by 128 partymen, has planned to walk a little over 20 kms daily. During the yatra, Rahul will interact with people and elicit their views. The grand old party has appealed to experts, scholars and members of social groups committed to the plural and democratic values to the country to join Rahul when he makes pit stops during the rally.

He would leave for the southern coastal Kanniyakumari district and after visiting the twin memorials for the savants: Thiruvalluvar and Swami Vivekananda besides those for Kamaraj and Gandhi Mandapam, he would launch the 3,500 km-long 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' covering 12 states.

Prayer and meditation at memorial

Rahul Gandhi, who reached the city late Tuesday evening, spent a little over an hour at his father Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial in Sriperumbudur this morning. Rahul paid floral tributes to his father’s portrait before offering prayers at the memorial. Accompanied by his state party chief K S Alagiri, state legislature party leader K Selvaperunthagai and Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar, a calm Rahul meditated as rendition of ‘Veenai’ Gayatri turned the mood serene at the memorial. After sharing a photo op with the memorial staff and the family members of the assasination, Rahul planted a sapling before leaving to the city. The wayanad MP will leave for Trivandrum by 11.40am. From there, he will take a chopper to Kanniyakumari for the yatra.

A dream come true for memorial staff

It was a dream come true moment for the staff at the Sriperumbudur memorial of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when Rahul Gandhi visited on Wednesday. Giritharan, one of the employees there, said: “I have been waiting at the memorial since last night. I didn’t even go home. As soon as we heard of his arrival, we hoped to catch a glimpse of him. He met and took photographs with us. It was like a dream came true.”

Another staff member, Indira said: “I have been working here for the last 26 years. Many leaders have visited. But, never have we thought that we would have a photo op with a leader like Rahul Gandhi. They told us that Rahul will take photographs with us. It happened today. I could not believe it. I am very happy.”