As AICC tries to defend Rahul's North-South comment, Congress leaders air concern

After BJP said Rahul Gandhi’s statement in Kerala amounted to “insulting north India”, AICC attempted damage control by claiming that his remarks had only disapproved of BJP’s brand of politics while he emphasised on the need for issue-based politics and governance. But voices of disapproval started within the Congress leadership too, with senior leaders Anand Sharma and Kapila Sibal, who are also among the change seekers, registering their reservations. Many Congress leaders of the north, especially from poll-bound UP and Uttarakhand, too appeared concerned.

“For the first 15 years, I was an MP in the north. I was used to a different type of politics. Coming to Kerala was very refreshing, as suddenly I found that people are interested in issues, and not superficially, but by going into details,” Gandhi had said in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

While steering clear on specifics of what Gandhi explicitly said, AICC spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Wednesday tried to defend it by giving an interpretation of what he thought Gandhi meant by his remarks. Gandhi “has given a clarion call to the people to question” the government of the day, whether in the states or at the Centre, on issues paramount to people and to "ignore the superficial toolkit story being sold by BJP day in and day out,” Surjewala said.


“The north-south divide is a toolkit being adopted and sold by BJP to the news channels and the public. Let us all rise and ensure that the governments of the day answer on issues and not on superficiality that they want to divert our attention to,” he said.