Congress leaders who 'sold out' shouldn't be trusted: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul's reply came to a question whether Congress would open doors for those who brought down the party's government in Madhya Pradesh

Days after Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted a "welcome" to Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh that created buzz, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday virtually shut the door on him, saying that those leaders who "sold out" should not be trusted.

Rahul's remarks came at a press conference here when he was asked whether the doors will be open for those who had brought down the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

"This question has to be directed to the Congress president and party's Madhya Pradesh leadership. My opinion is that those who were bought for money should not be trusted," Rahul said, a day before the yatra will reach the temple town of Ujjain.

Scindia, who was considered close to Rahul, had rebelled against Congress and crossed over to the BJP along with a number of MLAs, bringing down the Kamal Nath-led government. Scindia's grievance was that he was not made the state president while Kamal Nath was concentrating power with himself.

Asked whether he would contest again from Amethi where he lost to BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he said these were all attempts to "distract" from the main idea of the yatra.

"I don't want to give any headline to the media as at present my focus is on the yatra. You want newspapers to say tomorrow whether either Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Amethi or Rahul Gandhi is not contesting from Amethi. But I want the newspapers to write about the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the ideas and philosophy behind the yatra. The answer to your question may come in a year or a year-and-a-half,” he said.

To a question on how he handles personal criticism by the BJP, he said the problem with the BJP is that it has spent thousands of crores of rupees to tarnish his image and they have created an image.

"But, the amount of money it would spend on tarnishing my image, I would get the same amount of strength as truth cannot be hidden. Personal attacks come as you fight against a big power and this shows that I am on the right path. The BJP's personal attacks on me are my guru, which have taught me the right path," he said.

Asked how the yatra has changed Rahul, he said, "I have left Rahul Gandhi much earlier. Rahul Gandhi is in your mind but not in my mind. Try and understand that this is the philosophy of this country."

With the BJP promising to implement Uniform Civil Code in its Gujarat Assembly election manifesto, he said, "our direction is clear and their (BJP) direction is clear, and we are doing our work.”

Queried about his thoughts on organisational changes in the party, he said he was not thinking about anything other than completing the yatra and listening to people of the country.

"I am not thinking about the Congress, organisation or elections. This is tapasya and when you do tapasya, you do it for something," he said.