Edathala (Kerala), February 6
After taking on the Shiv Sena on its home turf for "Mumbai for Marathis" campaign, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said the Sainiks should be opposed by mobilising people and not by violence.

Taking potshots at the Sena protest, he said there were 15 to 20 Sena workers with black flags when he boarded the suburban trains in Mumbai yesterday, but there were thousands of people to support him.

"This is how we should oppose them. We should oppose them not by violence but by mobilising people," he told student leaders during an unannounced brief visit here.Ignoring the protest by Shiv Sainiks, Gandhi had yesterday hopped onto Mumbai local trains abandoning his motorcade to make a last minute detour through the bastions of the Saffron outfit which had asked its cadres to greet him with black flags for opposing its "Mumbai for Marathis" campaign.

"India belongs to all Indians. If you are an Indian, you can live in any part of the country as you live in your state ... whether you are a Keralite or Tamilian or Punjabi. It doesn't matter," Gandhi said. The Congress leader, who is trying to woo youth through interactions country-wide, stressed the need to strengthen student organisations by mobilising more workers.

Taking everyone by surprise, including the Congress state leadership and police, Gandhi arrived here this morning from Puducherry to address about 100 elected members of the district and state level members of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and those from Lakshadweep. — PTI