Guwahati: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi left for Manipur for his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ which set to begin on on Sunday. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will flag off the yatra and top leaders of the party will be present at the event. The Yatra will travel through 15 states, covering 6,713 km and it will culminate in Mumbai on March 20.
Meanwhile, the Assam leg of the Yatra will be spread over eight days beginning from Sivasagar on January 18.
The yatra will enter the state from neighbouring Nagaland at Haluating along the interstate border, according to the proposed route released by the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee. The yatra will cover 17 districts of Assam and a distance of 833 km.
The Wayanad MP was scheduled to address two public meetings - Amguri in Sivasagar and Gibbon forest area at Mariani in Jorhat district on the first day. Two roadshows will be held on the first day at Amguri and Mariani with his entourage halting the night at Jorhat.
The yatra will proceed to Majuli, the largest river island, from Nimatighat to Afalaghat by ferry over River Brahmaputra. Gandhi will lead a roadshow to the famed Kamalabari and Aunati sattras (Vaishnav monasteries) along with Jengraimukh and Dhaukuakhan. The Congress leader and his entourage will halt for the night at Gogamukh in Dhemaji district.
On January 20, the yatra will proceed to Lakhimpur where a roadshow will be held in Lakhimpur town, Laluk, Harmati and Nowboicha before entering the neighbouring state Arunachal Pradesh where he will halt for the night at Itanagar.
The next day, he will re-enter Assam at Gohpur and hold roadshows in Bishwanath and Sonitpur districts before proceeding to Nagaon district where he will halt for the night at Rupohi. He is scheduled to visit the Borduwa Sattra at Batadrava, the birthplace of Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva, and then proceed to hold a roadshow and street corner meeting before proceeding to Nongpho in Meghalaya where he will hold a public meeting and halt for the night.
On January 23, the yatra will enter Guwahati in Kamrup (Metro) followed by Kamrup (Rural) and in both districts, no public meetings have been scheduled. The yatra will also enter Nalbari district the same day where a street corner meeting is scheduled before proceeding to Barpeta district where Gandhi and his entourage will halt for the night.
The next day, the Yatra will proceed from Barpeta to Bongaigaon, North Salmara and Dhubri where it will halt for the night at Gauripur. A public meeting was proposed to be held at Gauripur before the yatra passed through various parts of the district to reach Sagolia at Boxirhat along the Assam-Bengal border to enter West Bengal.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on Thursday that his government will give permission to the Congress to hold the Yatra as "all tourists were welcome"- to the state. The Congress had earlier alleged that they were denied permission at a school ground and a college for night halt and stationing of containers. Sarma had responded that permission cannot be given to schools and colleges when it is in session.
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