Accompanied by 118 Congress leaders, Rahul Gandhi will embark on 3,500-km ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on Tuesday. 52-year-old Rahul Gandhi will walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir over the course of 150 days. This is one of the party’s massive community outreach programs in recent decades.
The timing seems to be right as the Congress leadership is facing questions with its loyalists abandoning the party . The padyatra could achieve both “Bharat jodo’ and “Congress jodo” as pointed out by senior leader Shashi Tharoor.
Ahead of the Yatra, Rahul Gandhi has said that with all paths allegedly blocked by the government, the Congress now has to go to the people and tell them the truth, and that is why the party is undertaking the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. “The government has blocked all paths for us. The medium of Parliament is not there. Congress leaders, the Opposition people cannot make speeches in Parliament, our mic is put off, we want to talk about China’s attack, can’t do it, we want to talk on unemployment, can’t do that, want to talk about inflation, can’t do that,” Gandhi had said at the party’s ‘Mehngai Par Halla Bol Rally’ on Sunday.
“Our institutions, whether it is the media, Election Commission, judiciary, there is an attack on them, there is pressure on them. So all the roads are closed for us, there is only one way left, to go to the people, the truth of the country has to be told to the people, that is why the party is undertaking the Bharat Jodo Yatra,” he had said.
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Logo, Tagline, Website and Anthem of Bharat Jodo Yatra
The Congress party has unveiled a logo, tagline, website and pamphlet for the padyatra. The tagline of the yatra is “mile kadam, jude vatan” (walk together, unite the country).
Congress has said that anyone can join the padyatra by registering on the website-http://www.bharatjodoyatra.in. The party said movement of padyatra can be tracked every day on this website.
Here’s Anthem of Bharat Jodo Yatra
Why “Bharat Jodo Yatra” and its Objectives?
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh has said there is a need for “Bharat Jodo” because the country is being divided. The first reason for the division is economic disparities, the second being social polarisation and the third political centralisation as states’ rights are being snatched away, he had said.
On August 22, Rahul Gandhi met with 150 civil society organizations for about 90 minutes and he explained the 3 basic objectives of Bharat Jodo Yatra.
- Bharat Jodo Yatra is being launched to deal with the tremendous challenges of economic inequality
- There is a need to unite the country as social polarization is happening in the name of caste, religion, language, food, dress, reading habits, eating habits, way of living.
- Third reason Rahul Gandhi explained was political division between the Centre and States. He said the abuse of the constitution, the misuse of investigative agencies, the growing centralization of power in the Union Government making state governments irrelevant, making panchayats irrelevant, making nagar palikas irrelevant.
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Padyatra Schedule
The 3,500 km long padyatra will pass through 12 States and two Union Territories including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Pujab, Jammu and Kashmir in about five months. Rahul Gandhi will launch the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ at a mega rally in Kanyakumari on September 7 in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel among others. Before kicking off the much-touted yatra, the former Congress chief will take part in a prayer meeting at former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial in Sriperumbudur.
The Yatra will start from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and then move northwards passing through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu, and culminate in Srinagar. Bharat Jodo Yatras in other states will be conducted in parallel. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi’s padyatra will not go through poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Categories of Padyatris
There will be 3 categories of Padyatris during the 5-month long yatra. First is Bharat Yatris, who are going to walk from start to finish. Second will be Atithi Yatris, from those states, from which the Bharat Jodo Yatra is not passing through. Third will be Pradesh Yatris, those hundred yatris through which the state is passing through, so one point of time, there will be 300 padyatris walking on at each time.
Who Will Accompany Rahul Gandhi During 150-day Padyatra?
Kanhaiya Kumar, Chandy Oommen, Pawan Khera, and Vijay Inder Singla are among prominent 118 Bharat yatris who will walk with Rahul Gandhi from Kanyakumari to Kashmir over the course of 150 days. Check full list of Bharat Yatris at https://www.bharatjodoyatra.in/bharat-padyatris/
Where Will Congress Leaders Stay During Padyatra?
All the Yatris, the Atithi Yatris and Bharat Yatris will be staying in containers, mounted on a truck and at each point, there will be areas about 2 acres, where these containers will be parked. No yatri will stay at hotel during the padyatra. There is another category of ‘Volunteer Yatris’ who would join the padyatra.
(With PTI inputs)
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