Bharat Jodo Yatra Live: Congress’s ‘Bharat Jodi Yatra’ LIVE: The much-hyped 3,570-km ‘Bharat Jodi Yatra’ by the Congress will begin today, and the party has claimed that it will be a “transformative moment” and a “decisive moment” for Indian politics. “For the rejuvenation of the Congress.
With the launch of the yatra today, the Congress is trying to flag economic inequalities, social polarization and political centralization, while trying to take advantage of what is often described as a battle of ideologies.
Bharat Jodo Yatra Live Rahul Gandhi to Launch Rally
Ahead of the launch, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will attend a prayer meeting at the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial in Sriperumbudur on Wednesday. He will then attend an event in Kanyakumari where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel will also be present.
Stalin will present a national flag made of Khadi to Rahul Gandhi who will hand it over to the Seva Dal workers who will manage the entire yatra. After the program at Mahatma Gandhi Mandapam where Stalin will be present, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders will walk to the seaside site of the rally where the yatra will be formally launched.
Sources said a message from Congress President Sonia Gandhi could be read out or a video message of her could be shown in the programme. Sonia Gandhi’s mother recently passed away in Italy. He and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are both abroad. Rahul Gandhi reached Chennai on Tuesday night.
Bharat Jodo Yatra Live from Mahatma Gandhi Mandapam
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the visit is “a transformative moment for Indian politics and a defining moment for the party’s rejuvenation”.
General Secretaries KC Venugopal and Ramesh along with senior leader and in-charge of travel organization panel Digvijay Singh conducted a final check on the preparations at the venue near ‘Mahatma Gandhi Mandapam’.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm and enthusiasm among Congress workers all over India. People are excited even in the states from where travel is not taking place. In each state the Congress will organize similar trips on a smaller scale, may be 50 km or 100 km, on the main theme of uniting India, an India torn apart by economic inequalities, social polarization and hyper-centralisation,” Ramesh told news agency PTI.
Taking a dig at the government, Ramesh said it will not be a journey of speeches where announcements are made. He said that Rahul Gandhi will interact with 118 leaders from different groups. “The party is focusing on making the Bharat Jodi Yatra a success as it is the biggest mass movement event in independent India.”
“This is the longest journey undertaken by the party. This is a turning point in the political history of India. Padyatra has a significance of its own and it is transformational politics. It is a matter of politics, not of abuse, revenge and slander.
Tagging a report on a meeting of top BJP leaders in Delhi on Tuesday, Ramesh tweeted, “The start of Congress’ Bharat Jodi Yatra from Kanyakumari tomorrow has clearly sent a powerful message to the ruling establishment. When they can’t meet the deadline, they resort to managing the headlines!”
In a video message, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged people to join the yatra wherever possible. He insisted that the visit was needed because “negative politics was being played in the country and real issues were not being discussed”. The aim is to focus on people’s issues like inflation and unemployment, he said.
While the march covering 12 states and two union territories in about five months will be formally launched at the rally, it will actually begin at 7 am on Thursday when Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders will begin the march.
Before the launch, Rahul Gandhi will visit Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Thiruvalluvar Statue and Kamaraj Memorial in Kanyakumari. He has said that with all roads blocked, Congress now has to go to the people and tell them the truth, which is why the party is traveling.
“The government has closed all avenues for us… Congress leaders, opposition and people cannot deliver speeches in Parliament,” he said. Our mic is off. We want to talk about China’s attack but can’t. We want to talk about unemployment and inflation, but can’t.
“Our institutions are under attack, be it the media, the Election Commission or the judiciary. There is pressure. All roads are closed for us. There is only one way left for the people to go. The truth of the country has to be told to the people, so the party is traveling.”
The march will run in two batches from 7 am to 10:30 pm and from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm. While the morning session will have fewer participants, the evening session will see mass mobilization.
The participants plan to walk around 22 to 23 kms per day. Congress has said that its yatra is not ‘Mann Ki Baat’ but to take the concerns of the people to Delhi.
It has classified 119 leaders including Rahul Gandhi as ‘Bharat Yatris’ who will walk the entire route. About 30 percent of the ‘Bharat Yatris’ are women. The average age of India travelers is 38 years. Around 50,000 citizens have also registered to participate in the Yatra.
A leader said that on Wednesday, a ‘prayer meeting’ would be organized by the state units of the Congress to mark the launch of the yatra at 5 pm. A 10-km foot march will be taken out at the block level at 7 am on Thursday.
After reaching Kerala on September 11, the Yatra will pass through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be over Karnataka for 21 days before moving northwards.
It will pass through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysore, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu and terminate at Srinagar.
