"Open shops to spread love like me, in the market of hatred," Rahul Gandhi's remarks on BJP's abuse

Digital Desk: On Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi encouraged BJP officials who had criticised him to "set up stores to disseminate love in the market of hatred," as he was doing through his Bharat Jodo Yatra. 

In a speech to an election rally here, he also requested each minister in the Rajasthan Cabinet to go on a yatra once a month across the desert state to reach out to the common people and address their concerns. 

He accused BJP leaders of abusing him and promoting enmity.

Gandhi stated that when he saw Congress workers send him flying kisses, he became distracted and that even those above BJP offices waved back at him after some hesitation. 

He said the Yatra had walked for 100 days already and "on the road occasionally I saw my beloved friends who are standing atop BJP headquarters, who do not respond to my waving but later they do". 

"I don't dislike them but I stand by my ideas. They want to know what I'm doing, and their leaders want to know why I'm going from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

"Some of them (from the BJP) ask me what I'm doing and why I'm walking, and my answer is: 'Nafrat ke bazaar mein, mohabbat ki dukaan khol raha noon' ("I'm opening a counter for spreading love in the market of hatred")," he stated of his decision to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. 

"You despise me, you abuse me, this is your heart. "Your bazaar is of nafrat" (hate), but my business is of love," he said.

Observing that many great leaders did the same, he stated, "I'm not talking only about myself, the entire organisation which won India its independence. What were we before Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Patel, and Azad built shops of love in a bazaar of hatred?"

"This is my response to everyone in the BJP: build a shop of love in a market of hatred. Because our country is built on love, not hatred, "he remarked addressing a massive rally here in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and other state leaders. 

He also lauded Rajasthan's Gehlot government for its various programmes for children, women, and other segments of society.