Be careful: Venugopal reacts to Tharoor’s remarks on Rahul’s student outreach

Congress leader KC Venugopal on Sunday urged party leaders to exercise caution in public statements after remarks attributed to Shashi Tharoor about Rahul Gandhi’s student outreach programme. Venugopal said such comments could please the BJP and defended Gandhi’s engagement with Gen Z

Alappuzha (Kerala): AICC general secretary KC Venugopal on Sunday said Congress leaders should exercise caution and avoid making statements that could please the BJP, while responding to remarks attributed to senior party leader Shashi Tharoor on Rahul Gandhi’s student outreach programme.

Venugopal, who is also the Alappuzha MP, was responding to reporters’ questions about Tharoor’s reported remarks suggesting that Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme had not resonated as much among Gen Z as the ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ protests.
“I have only seen his statement reported through some media channels, as far as I know. I haven’t been able to hear exactly what he said,” he said.

---

He said Tharoor’s comments should be put to him directly, but added that Congress leaders should be careful while making public statements. “Even if Congress members do not always strictly abide by party frameworks or discipline, we must be careful to avoid making statements that merely appease the BJP,” Venugopal said.

“The BJP will be delighted if someone finds fault with Rahul Gandhi or says two negative things about him-it would be the happiest thing for them,” he said. Venugopal said he did not believe Tharoor had made such remarks deliberately.

“All of us should take care, whether knowingly or unknowingly-and I don’t believe he said it knowingly, nor is he likely to say it intentionally-to refrain from making such remarks,” he said. He said Rahul Gandhi’s programme in Allahabad had drawn participation from India’s Gen Z and alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government made efforts to disrupt the event.

“Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried their best to disrupt that event in Allahabad. They even spread human waste along the path leading to the venue,” he alleged. Venugopal said the venue was initially denied after pressure was allegedly exerted on the college management, and later permitted, but unsanitary conditions were created along the route.

“But what was the scene witnessed there yesterday, in Allahabad? Those were not typical Congress workers, Youth Congress, or NSUI members. That was India’s real Gen Z,” he said. He said similar participation was witnessed in Kotta and Dehradun. Venugopal said Rahul Gandhi had taken up the cause of students who had allegedly faced police action during protests.

“You might have seen who was the first to present the student affected by pellet guns to the public? Rahul Gandhi,” he said. “When female students were beaten up recently-beaten up by male police officers-who presented those female students? Rahul Gandhi,” he said.

He also referred to a protest march led by Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders towards the Prime Minister’s residence in solidarity with students who participated in the protests.

“Expressing solidarity with the students who participated in that protest, the Leader of the Opposition and all of us marched right up to the Prime Minister’s residence, in a manner never seen before in India. That was one of the largest protest marches the country has closely watched. It was for Gen Z,” Venugopal said.

Tharoor had on Friday, while speaking at an event in Maharashtra, said that Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron ki goonj’ programme had raised the same issues as the Cockroach Janata Party.

On being asked that the ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ rallies did not resonate as much as the one at Jantar Mantar did, Tharoor said, “Correct. And that’s why we need to ask ourselves what we failed to do.” “Did we fail to listen? Did we fail to tap into the old cliche of having our finger on the pulse of the people? Was our finger missing from the pulse of Gen Z. That’s something we really need to interrogate”.

Tharoor on Saturday claimed that the media was interpreting his statement as “an attack on my own party or its leadership”. He insisted that he was stressing that political parties must open their doors and create pathways for the next generation to gain the power to shape politics.