Congress's 'Bharat Jodo' yatra from Sept 7, to cover 12 states

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New Delhi, August 9

The Congress on Tuesday said it would be launching a 12-state ‘Bharat Jodo’ padyatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir from September 7 in a bid to engage the masses on pressing issues, including price rise, unemployment, GST and social harmony.

The yatra, which Congress president Sonia Gandhi had announced upon the culmination of the party’s ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur in May, was previously scheduled to start on October 2.

The party has now decided on an earlier launch in view of cadre mobilisation achieved through a series of protests during the monsoon session on issues related to people and also challenges posed by what the Opposition calls “misuse of probe agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate”.

Senior leader of the party Jairam Ramesh said the yatra would be the longest ever in the Indian history and traverse 12 states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Congress announced the yatra today on the 80th anniversary of the Quit India Movement.