Bhopal, Mar 18 (IANS): Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday called Congress MP Rahul Gandhi a “visionless” leader.

Chouhan claimed that Rahul Gandhi’s Yatras have had a detrimental effect on the Congress as several leaders of the party either quit or lost the elections.

Addressing an election rally in Sehore (in Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency) on Monday, the BJP leader said Rahul Gandhi took out two yatars, referring to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which turned out to be the “Congress Todo, Congress Chhodo” (Break Congress, Leave Congress) he said.

Chouhan said the Congress faced defeat wherever Gandhi’s yatras passed. He took a jibe at Rahul, saying the latter’s Nyay Yatra did injustice to the Congress. The“Congress leaders either got defeated or left the party wherever Gandhi's Yatras passed,” Chouhan added.

Chouhan, who served as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for over 17 years, is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Vidisha. Before becoming the CM in 2005, Chouhan won four Lok Sabha elections from Vidisha.

During his address, Chouhan also asked Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to clarify why the Congress refused the invitation for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

He also questioned the “silence” of the Congress on the Sandeshkhali incidents in West Bengal, questioning “Was it not the politics of appeasement?”.

Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra culminated in Mumbai on March 16. A day later, the INDIA bloc launched its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections at a rally attended by several Opposition leaders, in the Maharashtra capital. The Bharat Jodo Yatra involved a foot march from Kanyakumari to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in 2022.