iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Congress Party sources confirmed on Friday that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra initiated by her brother Rahul on Saturday.
The last leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi will be taken up in Karnataka from Friday. The padayatra will enter the Raichur district of Karnataka from Mantralaya in Andhra Pradesh.
The padayatra resumed from Mantralaya Temple Circle in Andhra Pradesh at 6 a.m. It will enter Karnataka’s Gillesegur in Raichur district at 10 a.m.
Congress leaders will take up padayatra for three days in the district. The padayatra will cross the Tungabhadra bridge and pass through Yaragera, Raichur city and Shakthinagar.
Rahul Gandhi is interacting with the farmers and local people during the Yatra. He is staying at the Ranganatha Swamy Temple at Yaragera village.
On October 23, the padayatra will enter Telangana. The Congress leaders have been tasked with gathering 20,000 to 30,000 people during the yatra.
The police department has deputed 2,000 police personnel to ensure security. Padayatra has so far got a good response from the people in the state. Sonia Gandhi had also taken part in the padayatra briefly in Mandya district of south Karnataka.
The Congress party leaders are upbeat about the padayatra and they maintain that the party has gained right momentum in the run up to the state Assembly elections. The elections are scheduled to be held in another six months in Karnataka.
The internal survey conducted by the Congress leaders has shown that it will obtain a simple majority in the state Assembly elections.
The padayatra entered Karnataka on September 30. It will cover 511 kilometres of distance in the state.
According to the Congress party, “The aim of this Yatra is to unite India; to come together and strengthen our nation. The Yatra began on 7th September from Kanyakumari and will pass through 12 states, culminating in Jammu and Kashmir – spanning a distance of nearly 3,500 Km over the course of about 150 days.”
The party added, “The yatra has already received an overwhelming response; lakhs of people accompanied by Congress leaders have joined the movement to raise their voice against the economic, social and political issues that are dividing our nation today. The yatra seeks to address rampant unemployment & inflation, the politics of hate and division and the over-centralisation of our political system.”
The movement comes in the wake of what is seen as a rise in hate speech and violence against minorities, particularly Muslims and the under-privileged, since 2014, when the BJP came to power through the 2014 Indian general election. Simultaneously, India’s economic growth has not been creating enough jobs, resulting in high unemployment levels. Besides, rising inflation has affected most commodities that average households consume. The Bharat Jodo Yatra seeks to highlight all of these issues.
The Congress party launched the logo , tagline, and website for Bharat Jodo Yatra at AICC headquarters on August 23, 2022. The march started from Kanyakumari on September 7.
It will be a 3,500-kilometre long, 150-day ‘non-stop’ march that will cover 12 states and two Union Territories from across the country in which Gandhi will meet people during the day and will sleep in makeshift accommodation in the night.[12] It started from Kanyakumari and will end in Srinagar and will be done entirely by walking on foot.
Yatris are scheduled to cover a total of 23 kilometres everyday in 2 shifts. The march has as of October 2022 covered more than 700 kilometres.
The yatra will be covered by about 118 leaders, or Bharat Yatris, including:
- Rahul Gandhi, former president of Congress party
- Pawan Khera, chairman AICC media department
- Kanhaiya Kumar, political activist from Congress party
- Oommen Chandy, former chief minister of Kerala
- Sachin Pilot, former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan
- Revanth Reddy, president of Telangana PCC
- Mani Shankar Aiyar, former MP for Mayiladuthurai
