'Your friends': Kharge's reminder to Rahul's dig at ex-Congress leaders
What's the story
During a recent meeting at the Congress headquarters, Rahul Gandhi took a dig at leaders who left the party, calling them "cowards" and "greedy." He praised those who stayed on to fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Mallikarjun Kharge, the party president, reminded Gandhi that those who left were his friends.
Political friendships
Gandhi admitted he misjudged the leaders
Gandhi admitted he had misjudged the leaders who left.
He used a lesson from his grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to explain how political friendships can be hard to judge.
"Someone who appears to be my friend may not actually be one, and someone who seems to be my enemy may not truly be an enemy," he said.
Activism encouragement
Experiment with new forms of protest, Gandhi told workers
The meeting was attended by around 60 young Congress workers from various wings of the party.
Gandhi encouraged them to continue their activism and experiment with new forms of protest.
He cited recent protests in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as an example of such activism.
Departing leaders
Gandhi names leaders who left for perks, fear of action
Gandhi also spoke about leaders who left the party in search of perks or out of fear of action by agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
He cited Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, RPN Singh, and Jitin Prasada as examples.
Scindia joined BJP in 2020 after leaving Congress.
Friendly reminder
Kharge took a dig at Gandhi
Kharge took a light-hearted dig at Gandhi over leaders who left Congress, pointing out that they were close to the Leader of Opposition.
Kharge said, "They were all your friends," to which Gandhi appeared embarrassed and denied that Scindia was his friend.
"My sister (Priyanka Gandhi) is sitting right here. She knows that he (Scindia) was not my friend," he said.