Senior Congress leader said: “They kept calling him ‘Pappu’, but now he has become everyone’s ‘Papa’.”

NEW DELHI: The BJP and the Congress, two arch political rivals, sparred over Rahul Gandhi‘s student-outreach event, “Chhatron Ki Goonj”, with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav dubbing it “Jhooth Ki Goonj” (echo of lies).Striking a combative note over the Madhya Pradesh CM’s remark, senior Congress leader PC Sharma said: “They kept calling him ‘Pappu’, but now he has become everyone’s ‘Papa’.”The verbal clash ensued after CM Mohan Yadav attacked the entire Gandhi-Nehru family, saying: “Why is it that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and others in later times never contested elections from Delhi? They do not contest from Delhi because the people there know them too well. That is why they moved to Raebareli and Amethi, and now, having abandoned even those seats, he has gone to Wayanad in Kerala. People joke that the only reason he didn’t go to Arab to contest elections is that the ocean stood in the way.”He further said: “They seek out other places because they only need to face the public once every five years; they have no intention of actually working for the people. That is why, every time, they come up with new lies…”PC Sharma hit back at Mohan Yadav’s remark, saying: “Ever since Rahul Gandhi visited Jantar Mantar to speak up for the youth, the BJP has been anxious across the country”.“The leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party are unaware of the history of the freedom struggle and why elections are contested from Raebareli… They even demanded a deposit of Rs 10 lakh for the Leader of the Opposition’s event, something unprecedented in the history of India…

Ever since Rahul Gandhi visited Jantar Mantar to speak up for the youth, the BJP has been anxious across the country… They kept calling him ‘Pappu’, but now he has become everyone’s ‘Papa’. Just as people at home fear ‘Papa’ the most, the entire BJP has now started fearing him,” he told news agency ANI.The ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign, launched by Gandhi in 2026, seeks to provide a platform for student concerns, including examination irregularities, paper leaks, rising education costs, recruitment-related issues and unemployment.The campaign has previously been held in Pune, Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj and is aimed at bringing student grievances into the national political discourse.