- Rahul Gandhi was penalised with 10 push-ups for arriving late at a Congress training session in Madhya Pradesh
- District Congress presidents who arrived late also performed push-ups, turning the session into team-building
- Gandhi attended the meet amidst Bihar election campaigning, drawing swipes from the BJP
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's late arrival at a training session for party workers in Madhya Pradesh earned him a punishment: 10 push-ups. With the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha readily complying with the 'no-delay' rule, district Congress presidents who arrived late had to sweat it out too. And a formal organisational meeting turned into a fun team-building exercise.
According to sources in Congress, the push-up episode took place during a team session in Madhya Pradesh's Pachmarhi, where the Congress held a 'Sangthan Srijan Abhiyan' -- an exercise to revitalise its organisational ranks.
Gandhi stole some time from the high-voltage Bihar election campaign to attend the Madhya Pradesh party meet. At one of the sessions, he turned up late.
Sachin Rao, who was the training head, told Gandhi that latecomers must face a "penal action". When the top leader asked what he would need to do, Rao quipped, "At least 10 push-ups."
Gandhi, wearing a white T-shirt and trousers, complied instantly. District presidents followed him, and Rao's light-hearted remark turned into a team-building exercise. "We received a very good response from district presidents," Gandhi later said.
In Pachmarhi, Gandhi continued to target the ruling BJP and the Election Commission, alleging large-scale poll irregularities. He also claimed that similar irregularities occurred in the Madhya Pradesh election. "A few days ago, I presented the Haryana model where 25 lakh votes were stolen -- one vote from every eight. This is their system. The main issue is 'vote chori'. We have evidence and will release it one by one," he said. The BJP and the poll body have trashed these allegations.
The BJP has, meanwhile, taken a swipe at Gandhi, saying he was on vacation in the middle of the Bihar campaign. "LoP means Leader of Paryatan and partying for Rahul Gandhi. Even as Bihar elections are on, Rahul Gandhi goes for vacation. Election in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi (is) enjoying a 'Jungle Safari' in Pachmarhi," BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a post on X.
"This shows his priorities. When they lose elections, they will blame ECI & do a PowerPoint presentation on H Files (holiday files). Ta umr Congress yeh galti karti rahi, dhool chehre pe thi Congress aaina saaf karti rahi," he added, tweaking Ghalib's lines that roughly suggest an error in judgment and focusing on the wrong issue.
