NEW DELHI: Congress’ 148-day Bharat Jodo Yatra will begin on October 2 under the leadership of former party chief Rahul Gandhi covering 3,500 km in 12 states and two union territories from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
The announcement was made after all the Presidents of the state units of the party and frontal organizations met here with central office-bearers on the planning of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
At the three-day Udaipur Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir in May, the party announced the Bharat Jodo Yatra will start on October 2.
Addressing a press conference here, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “We had formed a committee for the Bharat Jodo Yatra at the Udaipur convention under the leadership of Digvijay Singh and today all the senior leaders met.”
Speaking to the media, Singh said, “The Bharat Jodo Yatra was announced by Sonia Gandhi in Udaipur. And we had submitted the suggestions to the party and all the points were discussed today at the meeting.”
He said that the party leaders have given the approval for the same.
“However, given the repeated and intensifying attacks on our democracy, our country’s Constitution, the nation’s institutions and the social fabric of our society by Modi Sarkar and the BJP, the Congress party is now exploring the possibility of starting the Bharat Jodo Yatra earlier. If so, an earlier launch date will be announced as soon as the PCCs revert to their preparedness,” Singh said.
The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra will cover a distance of around 3,500 kms and go through about 12 states and two Union Territories.
“It will be a padayatra throughout. The entire leadership and cadre of the Congress will participate in the yatra. Many other yatras will join the main padayatra from across the length and breadth of the country. The specific details of the Yatra’s route will be announced shortly,” the Congress leader said.
He further said that after 75 years of Independence, the Congress pays rich tributes to all those who fought for India’s freedom, those who defeated the politics of divide and rule, those who came together to give the country its great Constitution, and those who put India on the path of progress, prosperity, social justice and harmony.
“Today, as the politics of hate is being practised by those who never took part in our country’s freedom movement, and whose ideologies resulted in the assassination of the Father of the Nation, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is being launched as a nationwide movement to unite,” he said.
Singh also said that Congress appeals to like-minded political parties, civil society groups, business and professional associations, and to all Indians who are committed to these objectives to unite and join the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Ramesh also said that from August 9 to 15, the party will hold a rally in every district of the country and the party leaders will take a yatra of 75 km.
He said that all the state unit chiefs have been asked to take the 75 km yatra in every district.
This Bharat Jodo yatra is an answer to Bharat todo (breaking India), Ramesh added.