New Delhi: Members of the civil society on Monday threw their weight behind the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra starting September 7 after Rahul Gandhi told them the move aimed at countering the challenges facing the country like grave economic situation, social polarization, misuse of central agencies and weakening of the local bodies.
Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav, who hosted an interaction between members of around 150 civil society organizations and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Digvijay Singh at Delhi’s Constitution Club, said an attempt to rope in more such groups in the country would be made to broad base support for the yatra.
“The participant organisations welcomed the yatra and expressed their willingness to engage with the move. It was decided that an appeal will be issued in the coming days for larger engagement of various civil society groups, jan andolans and individuals,” Yadav told this channel.
Yadav further said that various groups would engage with the yatra in their own way by either walking part of the route, welcoming the party leaders, or through other means. Among other noted activists who attended the conclave included Aruna Roy, Syeda Hameed, Sharad Behar, PV Rajgopal, Bezwada Wilson, Devanoora Mahadeva and GN Devy.
“The country today faces a challenge to the Constitution-based order. This entire effort is aimed at 2024 national polls and to change the existing narrative which is against the social fabric,” Syeda Hameed told ETV Bharat.
“It is time for all of us to sink our personal differences and support this yatra even though the idea has been germinated by a political party,” she said. Rahul, who will lead the 150-day, 3500-km yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, posted on Facebook shortly after interacting with the social activists: “It is time for us to unite and march in solidarity.”
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During the 90-minute interaction, Rahul answered around 35-40 questions, mostly relating to the idea and intent behind the yatra, being billed by the Congress as the longest ever foot march mounted in the country over the past century. “Rahul answered a lot of queries in a frank and open manner,” said Hameed.
According to Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh, Rahul told the activists that the yatra is a political event but at the same time it is a non-partisan attempt to unite the various sections of society.
The movement, he said, was based on three pillars, economic, social and political and was needed to counter the key challenges facing the country like the “grave economic situation, social polarization, growing misuse of central agencies and complete weakening of the local bodies.”
“We have appealed to all those concerned at the current state of Indian democracy to support the initiative,” said Ramesh, adding that the Congress has also urged the other political parties to join the yatra. Before Rahul met the activists, Digvijay Singh, who heads the national coordination panel for the yatra, explained the details of the program to them.
Rahul’s meeting with civil society members came on a day when a key Congress panel on the Bharat Jodo Yatra met to finalize the plan. On Tuesday, the event website, logo and tagline would be unveiled by the party. The yatra is a Congress attempt to revise the party across the country and present itself as a strong opposition ahead of the 2024 national elections.
