Congress to hold yatras at district level to mark first anniversary of Bharat Jodo Yatra, say sources

PTI

New Delhi, September 3

The Congress is set to hold yatras at the district level to commemorate the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, which was launched on September 7 last year, sources said on Sunday.

The party is planning to mark in a big way the beginning of the cross-country march that saw Rahul Gandhi, along with several party leaders, traverse over 4,000 kilometres and interact with a cross-section of society.

The sources said yatras will be held at the district level to mark the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Bharat Jodo Yatra on September 7 last year.

They said the modalities of how long the yatras will be and other details are being worked out.

Gandhi launched the yatra on September 7, 2022, in Kanyakumari. It ended on January 30 this year as Gandhi capped his ambitious 145-day journey in Srinagar.

“I have not done this (yatra) for myself or for the Congress but for the people of the country. Our aim is to stand against the ideology that wants to destroy the foundation of this country,” Gandhi had said at the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar at a rally marking the grand finale of the cross-country march.

During the course of the yatra, Gandhi addressed 12 public meetings, over 100 corner meetings and 13 press conferences. He had over 275 planned walking interactions and more than 100 sitting interactions.

Many experts had said a big takeaway from the yatra for the Congress had been Gandhi’s image transformation—from a reluctant and part-time politician to one who is mature and taken seriously by opponents.

Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary, considered the brain behind the yatra along with party colleague Digvijaya Singh, had said back then that the transformation of Gandhi’s image was not the cause of the yatra but a consequence of it.

Asserting that the Congress made huge gains from the yatra, Ramesh had said the party succeeded in conveying the messages of the march—the threats to the republic from economic inequalities, social polarisation and political dictatorship.

With over 4,000 kilometres under his belt, Gandhi had managed to catch the attention of his supporters as well as detractors and the march saw participation from a cross-section of society, including film and TV celebrities such as Kamal Haasan, Pooja Bhatt, Riya Sen, Sushant Singh, Swara Bhasker, Rashami Desai, Akanksha Puri and Amol Palekar.

Besides participation from tinsel town celebrities, writers, military veterans, including former Army chief Gen (Retd) Deepak Kapoor, ex-Navy chief Admiral (Retd) L Ramdas, and noted people such as former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and ex-finance secretary Arvind Mayaram had also participated in the yatra.

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