During the initial days of Bharat Jodo Yatra, there was a delicate situation when former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi faced severe knee problems that forced him to think about quitting the padayatra in between and look for someone else to continue, said AICC general secretary KC Venugopal on Saturday.
He also said the predicament had even forced Priyanka Gandhi to tell him that her brother might be diving up the nationwide foot march due to the severe pain and hand over the baton of Bharat Jodo Yatra to senior Congress leaders, according to the news agency PTI.
"His knee pain had aggravated when the yatra entered Kerala on the third day of its commencement from Kanyakumari. One night, he called me to tell (me) about the severity of his knee pain and suggested carrying out the campaign by replacing him with any another leader," said Venugopal, a close confidante of Rahul Gandhi.
"Then came Priyanka Gandhi's call to inform about the severity of knee pain Rahul suffers. She even thought of suggesting handing over the campaign to other senior leaders," he added.
The AICC general secretary narrated the sequence of events that he had faced when the yatra began from Kanyakumari, during a function organized at KPCC headquarters here on Saturday evening to honor the Bharat Jodo Yatris from Kerala.
Remembering the ‘anxious moments’ wherein he stood with folded hands and prayed for divine intervention, Venugopal said that Rahul Gandhi was unimaginable for the Congress workers and leaders, PTI reported.
However, his pain was later cured with God's grace when a physiotherapist suggested by Rahul Gandhi joined his medical team and treated him, Venugopal told the gathering at the function also attended by senior party leaders including A K Antony.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi entered Kerala on September 10 and it traversed through the state for 19 days. The yatra had ended on January 30 in an opposition show of strength with leaders of several parties joining Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as he capped his ambitious 145-day journey that covered some 4,000 kilometers from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
(With PTI inputs)
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