Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul getting good response, Priyanka to enhance impact

The Congress on Saturday claimed that Rahul Gandhi had received a 'very good response' from the public when it came to the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', adding that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, too, could be joining the pan-India march anywhere between September 19 and 2022, writes ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi is creating waves through the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress on Saturday claimed, while party sources added that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, too, could join the march in Kerala to enhance the impact. Party leaders informed that the latter could join the foot march anywhere between September 19 and 22.

“It is up to Priyanka ji to choose when and for how much time she would like to join the yatra. She is a senior leader and has an aura of her own,” AICC Secretary Organisation Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin said, while speaking to ETV Bharat. “Rahul ji is getting a very good response from the public. This has unnerved the BJP who is raising trivial issues to target him,” he further added.

Party insiders said that at present Priyanka Gandhi was abroad with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and is expected to be back soon. Earlier, Congress had stated that all leaders would be taking part in the march.

Kerala is important for the party as it has a strong base in the southern state and has a major share of 52 Lok Sabha MPs from there. Rahul represents Wayanad parliamentary seat in the Lok Sabha. According to Qazi, who was part of yatra launch on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, the BJP has been rattled by the response that Rahul is getting.

“Congress is the only party which has a presence from Kanyakumari to Ladakh. Yes, we have been down for a while but are now on the revival mode. Rahul is a simple, clean politician who wants to unite the country. The messaging is simple and is being liked by the people.

The Congress party is also getting a thumbs up through the yatra. The party’s popularity would only grow over the coming weeks and this prospect has rattled the BJP, which fears the revival of the Congress,” said Qazi.

According to Qazi, yesterday’s controversy over Gandhi's expensive T Shirt and on Saturday over his meeting a Catholic priest, showed the unease the yatra’s popularity has caused among the BJP. “By raising such petty issues, they are showing their unease,” he said.

According to AICC in charge of Telangana Manickam Tagore, the yatra is getting a good response as people are liking Rahul’s humble approach. “He never projects himself as the leader. He has adopted a humble approach by walking along with 120 Bharat yatris. He shows himself as a humble worker of the party and he has delivered whenever the party gave him some target,” said Tagore.

Saturday was the third day of the foot march. Over the past two days, Rahul interacted with women’s groups, winners of Jawahar Bal Manch competition, some activists, farmers, sanitation workers, tribal activists, panchayat leaders and some YouTubers.

On Friday, Rahul articulated his views on several issues during a presser. After the media interaction, Congress communications in charge Jairam Ramesh took a dig at the PM, without naming him, that Rahul took tough questions from the press and answered them without any help from a tele-prompter while the PM had not done any such interaction over the past years.