Rahul Gandhi calls Bharat Jodo Yatra ‘an attack' on himself, explains why

While interacting with the students at the University of Texas, Dallas, Gandhi said that yatra was planned to connect directly with people.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi termed his 4000 km-long Bharat Jodo Yatra as "an attack on myself” during an interaction at the University of Texas in Dallas on Friday. Gandhi reflected on the hardships and self-doubts he had to overcome to finish the yatra.

LoP in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi addresses the Indian Diaspora, at Dallas in Texas, USA.(PTI)

"For the first 3-4 days, I thought, 'What have I done?" Gandhi quipped, drawing a burst of laughter from the audience.

"In some ways, Bharat Jodo Yatra was an attack on myself. This generates a completely different way of thinking and creates a unique relationship with people", Gandhi said as he credited the yatra for helping him develop a new way of thinking and understand the people better.

The Congress MP likened the battle within himself to his concept of Lord Shiva, bringing in an element of spirituality into his conversation.

“You know the idea of Shiva. When they say Shiva is the destroyer, what is he destroying? Himself. He’s destroying his ego, his structure, his beliefs. So, Indian political thought and action are all about going inward”, he added.

Idea of love in politics

Looking back at his journey, Gandhi boasted that his yatra had introduced the idea of love into Indian politics and that he was amazed at how that idea worked.

“To me, the most powerful thing that happened organically, was that we introduced certainly for the first time in India, possibly for the first time in many countries, the idea of 'love' in politics. And this is strange... because... [in] the political discourse in most countries, you will never find the word 'love'... You'll find hatred, anger, unfairness, corruption”, Gandhi said.

Elaborating on the reasons for conducting the yatra, the Raebareli MP alleged that all avenues of communication were shut in India during those times and the party decided to directly talk with the people.

“No matter what we did, it was all shut. We spoke in parliament. That's not televised. We go to the media, they don't pick up what we say. We even go with documents to the legal system, nothing happens. So, all our avenues were shut. And for a long time, we literally couldn't understand how to communicate. And then suddenly we hit upon the idea”, Gandhi added.

He is set to engage in several discussions as part of his visit to the United States from September 8 to 10. Gandhi is accompanied by the chairperson of Indian Overseas Congress, Sam Pitroda.

(With inputs from agencies)