Rahul Gandhi unmoved by 'Caro Raul' jibes; fishes in Kerala & insists there's no ministry

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi once again repeated his claim that fishermen had no representation at the Centre as he vowed to set up a Ministry for Fisheries, while addressing a rally in Kerala on Wednesday. The Congress leader was previously schooled by Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Giriraj Singh in Hindi, English and also (mock) Italian, that there already existed a Ministry to address the issues of the fishermen. Rahul Gandhi had previously made the remark on fishermen while he was touring Puducherry. The Wayanad MP, on Wednesday, was accompanied by Kerala's LoP Ramesh Chennithala and Mullapally Ramachandran.

"Early this morning, I went to the sea with my brothers. From the moment the boat went and came back, they took the entire risk... their entire labour. They sought to the sea, buy the net and somebody else gets the profit (sic)," Gandhi said as per PTI.

"We tried to fish but got only one. Even with this investment, the net came back empty. This was my experience," he added.

In an interaction at Kolllam's Thangassery beach, Rahul Gandhi claimed yet again that the fishermen were the farmers of the sea and that they did not have a Ministry to represent them in Delhi, unlike the farmers. Rahul Gandhi vowed to set up a Ministry for Fisheries 'the first thing' when he is elected to power in the future. Additionally, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Ministry would protect and defend the fishermen and address their issues - once again ignoring the present Ministry of Fisheries under Union Minister Giriraj Singh. 

"So that the issues of fishing community can be defended and protected..," he began, adding that the UDF leaders in the state would soon hold discussions with the fisherfolk to prepare a separate manifesto for them during the impending assembly polls.

READ | 'Fisherman The Farmer Of The Sea': Rahul Gandhi Wants Dept of Fisheries; It Already Exists

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"Everybody knows that farmers are the backbone of every country. Now you will be wondering why I have come to a meeting of fishermen and I am talking about farmers. And the reason is that I consider you to be farmers of the sea. And I think to myself that if farmers of the land can have a ministry in Delhi then why can't the farmers of the sea have a ministry in Delhi," Rahul Gandhi had said on 17 February at Puducherry. 

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Rahul Gandhi faces BJP's wrath

During a rally amidst his campaigning in Kerala's Trivandrum ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday compared people belonging to North India and South India based on politics. "My experience now since I have been an MP, I have also got to understand the wisdom of people of Kerala. For the first 15 years, I was an MP in the north. I had got used to a different type of politics. For me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing because suddenly I found that people are interested in issues and not just superficially but going into detail in the issues," the Wayanad MP said. 

Moments after his remark, several BJP leaders stormed Twitter against Gandhi's divisive comments. BJP national President JP Nadda said that the "divide and rule politics won't work" while reminding him of the Gujarat Civic body elections results which saw BJP's landslide victory. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju asked the Wayanad MP not to abuse Amethi and North Indians by stating that the people of Amethi had given him and his entire family enough chances.

READ | Jaishankar Schools Rahul Gandhi Over 'North Vs South' Politics, Says "India Is One"