Congress planning to prepone ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’

Highlights

• Congress is planning to prepone its ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ (Unite India Yatra) — a ‘padayatra’ covering 3,500 km through 12 states and two union territories which the party claimed is a “reply to the BJP’s attempts at ‘Bharat Thodo’ (Divide India)” — earlier scheduled to start on October 2.

• Prior to this yatra, the Congress will hold 75-km long yatras in all districts between August 9 and 15 to celebrate the 75th year of Indian independence.

• The schedule will be announced after examining the preparedness of the state units. The Congress had decided at the Udaipur Chintan Shivir that it will start the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on October 2.

• The decision to explore the possibility of preponing the programme was taken at a meeting of General Secretaries, in-charges, heads of frontal organisations and state presidents.

• “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 the Modi Sarkar and the BJP, the Congress party is now exploring the possibility of starting the Bharat Jodo Yatra earlier,” senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who heads the committee on the yatra, told a press conference.

• To repeated questions on Rahul Gandhi’s participation in the yatra, Singh said all Congress leaders and workers will take part in the yatra, which will have 100-150 participants throughout the yatra. Sources said Rahul had told in one of the first meetings of the panel that the yatra should be “Congress-centric” and “not Rahul-centric”.

• Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the Bharat Jhodo Yatra is a reply to the BJP’s attempts at ‘Bharat Thodo’. He said the yatra will take around 150 days to conclude.

• “Today, as the politics of hate is being practiced 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 nation-wide movement to unite people,” Singh said.

• The Congress also appealed 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.

• Singh said the invitation to join the yatra is only for those who uphold the Constitution and secular character of the republic.