National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo on Tuesday said that Congress is making children involved in Bharat Jodo Yatra as it has lost the trust of elders.
He alleged that the Jawahar Bal Manch, created in 2021, is working to involve children in the age group of 7 to 17 years in Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Speaking to ANI, Kanoongo said, "Congress's Jawahar Bal Manch running 'Bacche jodo' campaign. Children are being involved in Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra in an organised way. Congress is violating the law by misusing children. We have written to Election Commission to take action."
"The elders are not listening to the Congress, so the party is using children as crowd mobilisers for Rahul Gandhi's visit," he said.
Kanoongo said that Congress leader Jairam Ramesh is misleading the country with lies. Kanoongo questioned what is the work of Jawahar Bal Manch.
He accused Congress of violating the People's Representation Act.
"The Congress Party in its Constitution (Article 5) has specially mentioned about children below the age of 18 years will not get the membership of the party and the same party's constitution has been submitted to the Election Commission," he added.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, however, dismissed the NCPCR's allegation, saying that children are not being used in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi, nor has there been a violation of the People's Reservation Act.
While talking to media persons in Delhi, Ramesh said, "We met the members of the Election Commission and informed them that no violation of the Representation of People's Act was done during Bharat Jodo Yatra. We fail to understand why Election Commission has given us a notice on the complaint of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)."
Rahul Gandhi is currently leading Bharat Jodo Yatra- the 3,500-km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, covering as many as 12 states. The Yatra started from Kanyakumari and will end in Kashmir the next year by covering 25 km every day.
According to Congress, the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and to awaken the people of the country to the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarisation, and political centralization.
Notably, all the party MPs, leaders, and workers along with Rahul Gandhi are staying in containers. Sleeping beds, toilets, and ACs are also installed in some of the containers.The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.
The Congress suffered a debacle in the assembly polls held earlier this year and the Yatra is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles.
( With inputs from ANI )
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