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The Congress on Wednesday said that the party deliberately kept election-bound Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh out of its padyatra as it would have impacted their preparations for the polls
Ahead of the start of the 3,500-km Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress on Wednesday said that the party deliberately kept election-bound Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh out of its padyatra as it would have impacted their preparations for the polls.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that the entire machinery of the party is working on organising the march in states through which the padyatra would pass. “From today till February end, the entire country will see Congress leaders on streets with Congress flags,” he said.
Explaining why the party decided to skip the poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, Venugopal, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, said, “If we go to Gujarat, the entire poll machinery will be part of this that would affect preparations for elections. That’s why we decided not to go to Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.”
Venugopal added that Rahul Gandhi visited the Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat ahead of the yatra, which shows the significance of Gujarat to the party.
The yatra will be launched officially at a rally at Kanyakumari later in the day, and the march will kick start on Thursday morning.
Former party chief Rahul Gandhi arrived in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, he participated in a prayer meeting in Sriperumbudur where his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991.
All the senior leaders of the party have already arrived in Kanyakumari, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who will hand over the national flag made of khadi to Rahul Gandhi at Gandhi Mandapam here.
Rahul Gandhi will then hand over the national flag to the Seva Dal office-bearers, who will carry it for 150 days during the yatra.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra will be conducted for three days in Tamil Nadu and it will enter Kerala on September 11.
Rahul Gandhi will lead the yatra throughout. He will, however, go for campaigns in the poll-bound states as well. The yatra will be halted while Rahul Gandhi goes for campaigns, party leaders said.
For the yatra, around 50 trucks with containers have been arranged which will have facilities for the stay of Bharat Yatris. The containers have been fitted with air conditioners and toilets. As per party leaders, Rahul Gandhi will be staying in the container during his yatra and will not stay in any hotels.
Rahul Gandhi will cover a distance of 3,500 km across 12 states and will take about 150 days to complete the Bharat Jodo Yatra that will conclude in Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had announced a Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in the ‘Nav Sankalp’ of Congress’ thinking camp organized in Udaipur between May 13 and 15.
Digvijaya Singh is in-charge of the organising committee of Bharat Jodo Yatra. The yatra is seen as a strategy by the Congress to improve its chances in the 2024 elections.
