Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Rahul Gandhi today filed his nomination papers for the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency while his mother Sonia Gandhi watched with moist eyes. In the same dilapidated collectorate building at Sultanpur, in April 13 years ago, she was by the side of her husband, Rajiv Gandhi, when he filed his nomination.
Amethi today welcomed its first family—also present were Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra—with gulal, marigold and rose petals. Men, women and children cheered from the roadside and youth danced as the white Qualis in which Rahul and Priyanka were travelling and the rest of the motorcade snaked along the streets of Sultanpur.
The excitement was visible from the moment Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka came out of the tarmac of the Lucknow airport around 9.45 in the morning. While Sonia shook hands with the people lined up on both sides of the road, Priyanka and Rahul chose not to come out of the vehicle as the motorcade moved out of the airport. ‘‘Bhajpai (the BJP people) aab chatenge dhool, maidan mein hain bhaiyya Rahul (The BJP will bite the dust now),’’ read one of the placards.
From the airport to Sultanpur, a distance of around 160 km, Sonia came out of the vehicle often and even went on to address public meetings while Rahul and Priyanka remained inside the car.
‘‘This government is anti-poor, anti-youth and anti-workers. Throw this government out of power and vote for the Congress,’’ said Sonia at a whistle-stop meeting at Haidergarh, 60 km from Lucknow. As the carcade entered Sultanpur, the streets were brimming with supporters, not only from Amethi but from Sultanpur, Rae Bareli and Pratapgarh as well.
Local leaders, for a change, were elbowed out of the show as the common man took over the streets, shouting slogans like ‘‘Rajiv Gandhi amar rahen, Rahul-Priyanka aayen hain, naya savera laye hain’’ and ‘‘Rajiv Indira ki qurbani, yaad rakhega har Hindustani.’’
Satish Sharma, a close friend of the Gandhis who accompanied them from New Delhi, also filed his nomination papers for the Sultanpur seat.
‘‘Your grandmother and father destroyed their lives for politics. How do you feel about it now that you have chosen to enter politics?’’ asked a journalist while Rahul held an impromptu press meet soon after filing the nomination papers.
‘‘I don’t think they destroyed their lives. In fact, they led great lives and I am proud of them,’’ he said before walking out. ‘‘Will you campaign in the rest of the state as well?’’ he was asked. ‘‘My focus will only be on Amethi for the timebeing,’’ he said before the crowds almost carried him away.
Tonight the family will be staying at the guest house in Munshiganj. Tomorrow, the son will accompany his mother as she files her nomination from Rae Bareli, his grandmother’s favourite constituency.
