Hundreds of cots were neatly spread across a field here for Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's first "khat sabha" (charpoy meetings) but little did the party know that the very khats would overshadow the first day of his mega outreach programme in Uttar Pradesh.
Within minutes of Rahul leaving the venue, onlookers swooped in and made away with the charpoys. The narrow alleys around the Dudhnath Baba Mandir Maidan got swamped with villagers carrying the "khats" on their shoulders.
In the ensuing chaos, people were seen sarcastically calling out to each other while decamping with the "khats".
When asked about it, even as he gingerly balanced the rally takeaway on his shoulder, a villager quipped, “Kya hai ki Rahulji ne hi diya hai (It is given by Rahulji).” Congress leaders, travelling with the party scion, were quick to deflect criticism over the matter, saying attacking the party on the issue would boomerang on the opposition as these khats still hold importance in the countryside. The party has arranged 10,000 khats for the entire campaign.
“Whoever tries to belittle the issue will do an injustice to the poor villagers. Certain people in this country make away with thousands of crores of rupees and when a few villagers take home a thing as innocuous as a cot, all hell breaks loose. >> See pg 8
