Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s ‘dress code’ – white tee with trousers – during the Bharat Jodo Yatra has become the talk of the town. Even the chilling winter of Delhi failed to deter Gandhi from wearing his t-shirt.
When quipped about the same tee on Wednesday, at the party’s Foundation Day celebration, his replay has become viral on social media.
When asked “Today again in the same t-shirt?” Gandhi replied, “T-shirt hi chal rahi hai aur jab tak chal rahi hai, chalaenge (T-shirt is not wearing down, so I’ll wear it till it can no longer be worn).”
Last week, the former Congress president made headlines after wearing a plain white t-shirt (half sleeves) while visiting the memorials of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and others. Dressed in a t-shirt and slacks, Gandhi appeared oblivious to the biting cold of New Delhi.
Asked if he did not feel the cold, Gandhi replied, “They keep asking me how I do not feel cold… but they do not ask this question to the farmer, the worker or the poor children.”
Rahul Gandhi’s apparent resistance to the severe cold was hailed as ‘superhuman’ by party leader Salman Khurshid, who also triggered a spat with the BJP after comparing the MP to Lord Ram and ‘a yogi doing his ‘tapasya’ (meditation) with a focus’. “While we are freezing in the cold and wearing jackets, he (Rahul Gandhi) is going out in t-shirts,” he said.
Targetted for his comments, Khurshid said, “Rahul Gandhi is not Lord Ram but the BJP is following the path of Ravana.”
The Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, the party’s mega outreach effort ahead of the 2023 round of assembly elections and the 2024 general elections, entered Delhi last week after passing through several states, including poll-bound Karnataka and Rajasthan. The yatra is currently on break and will resume on January 3 en route to its finish point in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar.