Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while speaking at an event in San Francisco, USA today, taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) said the government tried to stop his Bharat Jodo Yatra and threatening people misuing agencies.

The Congress leader is on a 10-day tour to the US, who arrived in  San Francisco on Tuesday morning.

Gandhi said the Central government tried all the possible manners to stop his Bharat Jodo Yatra and targeting the BJP said it is threatening the people and misusing the government agencies, Gandhi said the BJP did not succeed in this and the impact of the Yatra increased.

He said the result behind such an impact of the Yatra was because every Indian has the idea of join India inside their hearts. He added that the Yatra was put into execution as all the instruments that they needed to connect to the masses were controlled by BJP and the RSS.

Gandhi further added saying the march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir had the spirit of affection, respect and humility, he said if one traces back to the history, he/she would learn that spiritual leaders like Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Basavanna ji, Narayana Guru ji united India in a similar manner.

Gandhi is expected to address public rallies, community events and meet with Indians abroad, community leaders, business leaders along with American lawmakers.

The former Congress chief will also interact with students at the Stanford University, San Francisco and will also hold interactions with Wall Street executives.

Gandhi was received by Congress overseas affairs head Sam Pitroda.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled for a visit to the US in June on a special invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

PM Modi will be hosted a state dinner by President Biden and his wife on June 22.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government, which completed nine years in office on May 30, will continue to take decisions to improve the lives of people like it had over the last nine years.

In a tweet, the PM said he was filled with humility and gratitude on the ninth anniversary of his government. He said he would continue to work harder towards the vision of a developed India.

The BJP has planned a special contact campaign across the country. The party said in a statement the country had seen unprecedented growth and development in every sector with the mantra of Nation First over the past nine years. It was due to the efforts of the government that the world was saying the 21st century belongs to India.

Comments on the tweet have not stopped coming in. One user said PM Modi’s vision had made India the fifth largest economy in the world. Many infrastructure projects had been pushed, toilet, gas and water connections were on the priority list of the Modi government. Article 370 had been revoked in Jammu & Kashmir and women had been empowered during the time.

Not to to be outdone, a critic of the government noted the Modi government had gifted India the highest unemployment rate, the highest cost of living and the highest debt. The user said women’s empowerment was hypocrisy as women wrestlers were being treated like criminals for protesting against the wrestling body chief, who continues to enjoy support of the Modi government.

But overall, the mood has been congratulatory with the odd critique here and there. On May 28, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building while the Opposition boycotted it. He described the new Parliament as a temple of democracy, felicitated some workers involved in its construction.

The real test of the Modi government will come next year when the country will vote in the next Lok Sabha.

The Congress has bought peace for the time being between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior leader Sachin Pilot to contest the upcoming elections to state Assembly unitedly. The two leaders had a meeting lasting some four hours with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi late on Monday.

Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal said the two leaders have decided to work together peacefully and have left any decision on the party high command. Reports quoting sources from the Pilot camp said the former Deputy CM had agreed to the high command’s point but none of his three demands — action against former CM Vasundhara Raje over corruption, setting right the Rajasthan Public Service Commission and relief to those affected by the cancellation of recruitment exams due to paper leaks — were met.

Besides, the two leaders were spoken to separately by Kharge and Gandhi and not together. Over the last few years, factionalism within the party’s Rajasthan unit has been at the forefront as the Congress tries to ready itself for the Lok Sabha 2024 challenge. Last year, Ashok Gehlot supporters were willing to defy the leadership when talk did the rounds that Gehlot would contest for the Congress chief’s post, which was eventually won by Kharge.

Sachin Pilot had launched a counter-campaign demanding action against the previous Rajasthan government for the paper leaks during BJP rule. Pilot had put the Congress on notice that if no action was taken by the end of this month, then agitations will take place all over the state.

He further added that he had gone on a fast in Jaipur but since nothing happened, he would decide to continue with the Jan Sangharsh Yatra. This threat, if carried out, would be a big setback for the Congress as the state elections are just months away.