While Congress leaders from Punjab are all praises for Rahul Gandhi for his humanitarian approach during Bharat Jodo Yatra, they have been left panting while walking with him, all thanks to Gandhi’s extraordinary fitness levels, which they say is too good for them to match.
“Faulaad hai ye banda (He is made of steel). He doesn’t take a break and keeps walking and walking. I couldn’t match his speed and felt breathless. He did not even take a tea break today,” said an MP.
Leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa (65) was among those who accepted Rahul’s challenge in lighter vein to walk the entire Ludhiana leg of 22 kms with him but fell short of a few kilometers. Nevertheless a great effort seeing his age !
A bus driven by a woman
A video that caught a lot of attention on social media during the Punjab leg of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra on Thursday was that of Harsimrat Kaur Khangura, wife of former Sangrur MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy who was defeated by now CM Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri in assembly polls earlier this year. In the video, Simrat, in an energetic mode, is seen driving a bus ferrying party’s women workers for the yatra. As she drives the bus, she raises the slogan “Rahul teri soch tey pehra deyange thok ke’.. While the majority of social media users appreciated a woman driving the bus, some also raised a concern. A user questioned if Simrat actually knows how to handle a bus in foggy weather, and if not then she should not drive it just for the sake of a video. Others however appreciated her and wrote that she must be driving the bus knowing she can handle it well !
The humble touch
Local Congress leaders in Punjab are all praises for Rahul Gandhi’s “empathetic and humble” approach towards his subordinates and feel that they have got to know a lot about his “emotional side” while walking with him for hours. One among them is Ludhiana DCC urban president Sanjay Talwar who got emotional after Rahul expressed his condolences for his wife’s passing. “I lost my wife to cancer some time back and when Rahul got to know about it, he not only expressed his condolences but also discussed with me in detail about it. All this while we were walking during the yatra but he was so humble that he did not make it look like a formality even for a second,” said Talwar. Another senior leader said: “He saw four sweepers walking with their brooms and he especially stopped them to meet. One of them was hesitant to shake hands with him due to dirty hands but Rahul hugged him. We are seeing this side of him for the first time.”
Channi gets flak
Though it has been months now that Congress faced humiliating defeat in Punjab, one statement that will continue to haunt former CM Charanjit Singh Channi for a long time is his remark against migrants when he said that he “won’t allow UP, Bihar ke bhaiyye to enter Punjab.” On Thursday when Rahul Gandhi’s yatra entered Samrala Chowk of Ludhiana, the migrant hub, many laborers in the crowds were visibly unhappy seeing Channi on stage and pointing finger towards him, they were heard saying, “Issi ne bola tha bhaiyyon ko rehne nahi dega (He was the only who said he won’t let migrants live in Punjab).” A little birdie also told us that former Ludhiana East MLA Sanjay Talwar had also communicated to the party high command that Channi’s statement was the major reason for his defeat from the seat which is a hub of migrant population in Ludhiana.
The gidda girls
The most unique welcome in Punjab to Rahul Gandhi was given by a group of traditional giddha performing women in Ludhiana who sang ‘boliyaan’ in his name, asking him to shake a leg along. “Nacche Rahul Gandhi giddha taan sajj daa,” sang the women, clapping and dancing on foot-tapping beats and in the background PPCC president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also smiled, hoping that Rahul would oblige the women. However, apparently too tired after a long day, Rahul greeted women with folded hands and a smile.
