Putting an end to speculations around BJP MP Varun Gandhi’s possible participation in Bharat Jodo Yatra and entry to the grand old party, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that their ideologies don’t match.
Gandhi told reporters that Varun Gandhi at some point accepted and imbibed the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which he can never accept.
“I can never go to RSS Office, you have to behead me before (making me do) that. My family has an ideology, a thought system,” the Wayanad MP said at a press briefing.
“He (Varun Gandhi) at some point, maybe even today, accepted that ideology and made it his own. I can never accept that thing.”
“I can definitely meet him, hug him, but cannot accept that ideology. Impossible.”
He stressed that there’s an ideological fight going on between RSS and Congress.
Rahul Gandhi also mentioned an incident where Varun Gandhi was appreciative of the work being done the by RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the ruling BJP.
“Years ago, Feroze told me that RSS is doing great work in the country. I asked him to read and understand our family’s history. Had you understood our family’s ideology, you would have never said that,” Rahul Gandhi said. “But there’s no hatred.”
Rahul Gandhi also dismissed the reports of a security breach during the Bharat Jodo Yatra on Tuesday, saying the man was there after a security check but got overexcited and tried to hug.
Earlier today, a man rushed towards Rahul Gandhi and tried to hug him as the Bharat Jodo Yatra traversed through Hoshiarpur district but was stopped by Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. In a video of the incident, the man wearing a jacket could be seen rushing towards the Congress MP and trying to embrace him. But Warring and other party workers accompanying Gandhi stopped him and pushed him away.
Inspector General of Police G S Dhillon said Gandhi had himself called the man and there was no security breach.