Kanyakumari: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is launching the mega ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ that will last about 150 days – stretching from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, Rahul and team will cover 3,570 km. The Congress has said that the padyatra is aimed eliminating hatred and elections are not the agenda. While the Yatra will be launched today – Wednesday, September 7 – it will actually begin at 7 am on September 8 when Gandhi and several other Congress leaders will embark on the march. The Congress has said it is a “transformational moment” for Indian politics and a “decisive moment” for the party’s rejuvenation.
Here are 10 key points about the Bharat Jodo Yatra:
1) The 3,570-km march from Kanyakumari to Srinagar will cover 12 states and two Union Territories in about five months.
2) The footmarch will move in two batches – one from 7 am to 10:30 am and the other from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm. While the morning session will include fewer participants, the evening session will see mass mobilisation. On average, the participants plan to walk around 22 to 23 km daily.
3) It has classified 119 leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, as ‘Bharat Yatris’ who will walk the entire route from Kanyakumari to Srinagar. About 30 per cent of the ‘Bharat Yatris’ are women. The average age of the participants is 38.
4) The ‘padayatra’ will reach Kerala on September 11 and will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will remain in Karnataka for 21 days before moving to other states northwards.
5) The yatra will start from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and then move northwards passing through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu, and culminate in Srinagar.
6) Congress has said Rahul Gandhi will not stay in any hotel but rather will complete the entire journey in a simple manner. He’s going to stay in the container for the next 150 days. Sleeping beds, toilets and AC are also installed in some of the containers.
7) The temperature and environment will differ in different areas throughout the journey and these factors have been kept in mind while preparing for the journey. “About 60 such containers have been prepared and sent to Kanyakumari where a village has been set up in which all these containers have been placed. The container will be parked in a new place every day in the shape of a village for night rest. Full-time Yatris who stay with Rahul Gandhi will eat together and stay close,” said the sources.
8) The classification of those participating in the yatra is — ‘Bharat Yatris’, ‘Atithi Yatris’, ‘Pradesh Yatris’ and ‘Volunteer Yatris’. The tagline of the yatra is ‘Mile Kadam, Jude Watan’.
9) In a video message, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged people to join the Yatra wherever possible. She asserted the Yatra was needed as “negative politics was being practised in the country and real issues were not being discussed”. It aims to put focus on people’s issues such as price rise and unemployment, she said.
10) Assam’s BJP CM Himanta Biswa Sarma took a dig at his former party’s ‘Bartat Jodo Yatra’. He said that India was divided in 1947 and there is no benefit of starting the Bharat Jodo Yatra in India. “What are the benefits of doing this Yatra in India? India is connected, and united. I want to suggest Rahul Gandhi to take the Bharat Jodo Yatra programme to Pakistan.”
(With Agency inputs)
