Strong Congress important pillar of Opposition unity: Jairam Ramesh

A strong Congress is an important pillar of Opposition unity and its allies should understand that the party will not allow itself to be weakened senior leader Jairam Ramesh said on MondayAddressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters he said the Bharat Jodo Yatra has infused new energy in party organisation and claimed that the BJP is rattled by the response it is getting among the peopleRamesh said the yatra is aimed at strengthening the Congress which is important for Opposition unityI am happy that after the Bharat Jodo Yatra everybody has seen that the elephant has awakened the elephant is moving forward and all parties are seeing what the Congress is doing he saidNoting that statements will keep coming from the BJP and from the Congress allies Ramesh said Opposition unity will only be possible when the Congress is strongAlso Read Second day of Kerala leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra sees huge turnoutOpposition unity does not mean weakening the Congress Our allies should also understand that we will not allow ourselves to be weakened further We will strengthen ourselves A strong Congress is an important pillar of Opposition unity he saidBharat Jodo Yatra is not for Opposition unity it is to strengthen the Congress Ramesh assertedIf it results in Opposition unity it is good and we welcome it But our priority is to strengthen the party organisation To make it more effective he saidIn five days of the Kanyakumari to Kashmir yatra a total of 102 kilometres will be completed by this evening Ramesh saidI had said the Bharat Jodo Yatra would not be a Mann Ki Baat but about peoples concerns I did not know it would also become a concern for the BJP They are rattled the senior Congress leader said adding that the peoples response has made the BJP nervousWe dont expect Cabinet ministers to speak the truth I will not stoop to their level Will not fall to the level of the home minister Amit Shah and some other ministers he said in an apparent reference to Shahs Tshirt barb at Congress leader Rahul GandhiRamesh said with the yatra in its fifth day having gone through Tamil Nadu and now in Kerala there is new enthusiasm and energy in the party organisationWe wanted to rejuvenate our party New energy and enthusiasm in the party is visible It has been a good beginning peoples response is very good he saidThere is a lot of enthusiasm in other states as well he addedResponding to a question on attack and counter attacks between the BJP and the Congress Ramesh said the RSS and the BJP are not ready for aggressive responses from the CongressIf they will be aggressive We will be double aggressive But the Bharat Jodo Yatra is to unite people he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever