Rahul Gandhi

Last week, during a press conference in Jaipur, Gandhi had claimed that China is preparing for "a war" and accused the Centre of trying to "ignore" the threat, saying it is "asleep" and not ready to accept the situation.

As Rahul Gandhi started the foot march from Dausa in Rajasthan, unexpected chants in Sachin Pilot's support were reportedly heard. Sachin Pilot's stronghold is Dausa, where he has been at odds with state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over state leadership.

The defence minister also took an indirect dig at Rahul Gandhi for "doubting" the government's intention in the handling of the border row with China and said politics can not be done on the basis of "falsehood".

Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took to Twitter to say, "Mr Rahul Gandhi how long will you continue to question the Army and make false allegations? The heroic courage of our armed forces on the border is evident even in the media, yet you continue to question that."

"A common misconception is that the Congress party is over. But I can assure you that the Congress Party will never be finished, and the Congress will bring down the BJP," said Rahul Gandhi.

Bharat Jodo Yatra: Besides Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri, and Congress' hill state chief Pratibha Singh walked alongside Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra as it completed its 100-day journey. Other newly elected Himachal MLAs, and AICC in-charge Rajeev Shukla, joined the yatra.

The Congress shared a picture of the two and tweeted in Hindi, "Shri Raghuram Rajan, former Governor of RBI, with @RahulGandhi ji… The increasing number of people standing up to unite the country against hatred shows that we will be successful."

The yatra began on September 7, 2022, in Kanyakumari and has since travelled through Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. It is scheduled to end in Jammu and Kashmir in early February 2023.

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, a four-time MLA from the Nadaun constituency and the head of the Congress' election committee in the state, is a law graduate, began his career in student politics and went on to rise to the position of state unit chief.

Sachin Pilot's comments come only days after Gehlot said Pilot is a 'gaddar' (traitor) and cannot be replaced. The remarks attracted a harsh rebuke from Pilot, who claimed Gehlot's use of such language was unworthy of his status and that such 'mud-slinging' would not help at a time when the attention should be on the Bharat Jodo Yatra.