Cots vanish minutes after Rahul’s UP rally

Within minutes of Rahul leaving the venue, onlookers swooped in and made away with the charpoys. Around 10,000 people had assembled for the first ‘khat sabha’ at the Satashi inter-college ground here, but surprisingly, soon after the address by the Congress vice-president, people scrambled and managed to flee with 2,000 cots. 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 Rahul).” 

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. This shows the mentality of the BJP,” Congress National Spokesman Meem Afzal said. 

Rahul is slated to hold hundreds of such ‘khat sabhas’ across his 2,500 Km-long marathon yatra during which he will cover as many as 233 Assembly constituencies to connect with the people ahead of the polls.