Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on the second day of Bharat Jodo Yatra, began the march from a town named Agasteeswaram in Kanyakumari district on Thursday, accompanied by senior party leaders. Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi flagged off the party's cross country unity campaign in Kanyakumari town with a call to combat the 'divisive politics' of the BJP-led Centre and to awaken the people of the country to dangers of economic inequalities, social polarization and political centralization.
Senior leaders including party MPs K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and others participated in 'Padyatra' along with Rahul Gandhi. Jairam Ramesh, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, described their Bharat Jodo Yatra as a mass awakening programme to combat the divisive politics of BJP. "This is also a Yatra that will strengthen the party organisation, mobilise party workers and the entire party is ensuring that the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a resounding and outstanding success," he said.
Jairam Ramesh further said, "We are focused like Arjun was focused on the fish when he went for Draupadi's swayamvar. We have only one vision right now - to ensure the successful completion of Bharat Jodo Yatra." He also said that they don't want to waste their time countering the arguments from the other side. "There will always be professional critics, arm-chair critics, people who will raise questions in India against everything you do," he added.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, speaking after flagging off Bharat Jodo Yatra at a rally in Kanyakumari on Wednesday, said that the tricolour belongs to every religion, state and language, but it is under attack today by the BJP and the RSS that are dividing India on lines of religion and language. He sought the support of the people to help keep the country united at such a critical time.
In a direct attack on the saffron party, Rahul said, "They (BJP) think they can frighten the opposition using CBI, ED and IT. The problem is they don't understand Indian people. Indian people don't get scared. Not a single opposition leader is going to be scared of the BJP." He further highlighted the importance of the Indian tricolour and called out the BJP for allegedly treating it as their personal property.
"It gives me great joy to begin Bharat Jodo Yatra from this beautiful place. The national flag represents the religion and language of every single person living in this country. They (BJP and RSS) think that this flag is their personal property," he added.
In what is being seen as a Congress' counter move to take on the Narendra Modi government ahead of 2024 elections, the party launched the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on Wednesday in which Rahul Gandhi started the 3,570 km journey lasting about 150 days from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. As the party begins the nationwide yatra, some pertinent questions arise about the lodging and boarding of Rahul Gandhi.
Congress sources say that Rahul Gandhi considers Bharat Jodo Yatra as a way to connect with the common people. The 148-day march will culminate in Kashmir. The padayatra (march) will cover a distance of 25 km every day. The Yatra will include padayatras, rallies, and public meetings which will be attended by the senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The Congress suffered a debacle in the Assembly polls held earlier this year and the yatra is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles.
After reaching Kerala on September 11, the Yatra will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north. Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi slammed the BJP and said that the opposition was not scared of the BJP.
