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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had to do 10 push-ups as punishment for turning up late to a training session for party workers on Sunday. The rare moment involved not just Gandhi, but also other team members who were late for the meeting. The incident turned a formal organisational meeting into a comical and light-hearted episode.
Reports say the fun scene took place during a team session in Madhya Pradesh’s Pachmarhi, where the Congress held its Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan, an exercise to revitalise its organisational ranks.
Gandhi took some time off from the important election campaign to attend the Madhya Pradesh party meet. At one of the sessions, he arrived late. Sachin Rao, the training head, told Gandhi that latecomers must face a “penal action.” When the top leader asked what he needed to do, Rao quipped, “At least 10 push-ups.”
Wearing a white T-shirt and trousers, Gandhi complied instantly. The district presidents followed his lead, turning Rao’s light-hearted remark into a team-building exercise. “We received a very good response from district presidents,” Gandhi later said.
In Pachmarhi, Gandhi also criticised the ruling BJP and the Election Commission, alleging large-scale poll irregularities. He claimed similar discrepancies were found in the Madhya Pradesh elections. “A few days ago, I presented the Haryana model where 25 lakh votes were stolen — one vote out of every eight. This is their system. The main issue is vote chori. We have evidence and will release it one by one,” he said. Both the BJP and the poll body have denied these allegations.
The BJP later slammed Gandhi, accusing him of enjoying a vacation during the Bihar campaign. A BJP spokesperson wrote on X that Rahul was enjoying a “jungle safari” in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, while campaigning for Bihar was underway.
“This shows his priorities. When they lose elections, they will blame the ECI and 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 famous lines to suggest that the Congress keeps misjudging the real problem by focusing on the wrong issues.
