Congress workers beat up Kerala shopkeeper during 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'

Kollam (Kerala): The ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ of the Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi has run into another controversy. The initiative was launched with the aim of finding lost political ground and to infuse new enthusiasm among Congress workers. However, the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ garnered negative publicity on Friday with shopkeepers in Kerala levelling allegations of extortion against Congress workers. A vegetable shopkeeper in Kollam district has accused Congress workers of threatening him. The vegetable shopkeeper alleged that Congress workers are collecting funds for the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Kollam. He has alleged that Congress workers demanded two thousand rupees and beat him up when he failed to pay. A video of this incident has gone viral. “A team of Congress workers came to my shop and started asking for donations for the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. I gave 500 rupees, but they started asking for 2 thousand rupees. They threw away my scales and vegetables for not paying the money,” the vegetable shopkeeper told the local media. The Congress leadership has reportedly taken action against the errant workers after the video surfaced. Kerala Congress President K Sudhakaran has suspended three workers for assaulting vegetable vendors. He has also posted a statement on twitter regarding this. This is the second controversy during the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. Earlier, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi attracted severe criticism when he met a controversial priest in Tamil Nadu. The second phase of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ started from Kollam district of Kerala on Friday. Leader of Opposition from Kerala VD Satheshan, General Secretary KC Venugopal, Senior Leaders Ramesh Chennithala, K Muraleedharan, NK Premachandran have joined the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that Rahul Gandhi will interact with workers, entrepreneurs and party colleagues during a halt at Neendakara in Kollam district. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.