The Bharat Jodo Yatra, after covering nine states and one union territory in its first leg, will resume the second leg of the yatra from Delhi on January 3 and will culminate with the unfurling of the national flag. Rahul Gandhi Srinagar 30 January.
Addressing a joint press conference here, AICC General Secretary Organization KC Venugopal and AICC General Secretary Communications Jairam Ramesh said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra has so far covered a distance of 3,122 kilometers from Gandhi Mandapam in Kanyakumari to Red Fort in Delhi.
In 108 days, the yatra has covered 49 districts in nine states and one union territory – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.
The yatra will continue from Delhi on January 3, Uttar Pradesh from the same day till January 5, Haryana from January 6 to January 10, Punjab from January 11 to January 20 and Himachal Pradesh on January 19 with a one-day halt.
Venugopal said, “The yatra will enter Jammu and Kashmir on the evening of January 20 and end with the flag hoisting in Srinagar on January 30.”
He said that the message of “Join India” is not limited to the 12 states and two union territories through which the yatra passes.
He said that several State level Yatras have already been announced and the upcoming ‘Haath Se Hath Jodo Campaign’ will take the message of Bharat Jodo to the doorstep of every Indian.
He said that through all these activities, we will continue to take forward the message of Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Ramesh said that the most important thing is that Rahul Gandhi and Bharat Yatri are meeting thousands of people every day, interacting and spreading the message of Bharat Jodo.
“This Yatra is really a journey to listen to the people of India. The Yatra listens to the people through a large number of meetings.”
The Congress leader said that so far, 87 meetings of 30-40 minutes have been held with different groups, usually consisting of 20-30 people in each group.
These groups raise various issues of the areas and states we are passing through and there have been more than 200 planned walks with small groups of 4-5 people, ranging from celebrities to intellectuals, activists to ex-servicemen Including local children.
Besides this, there have been innumerable people whom Rahul Gandhi has greeted and walked with during his travels.
“To give the message of the Yatra, there have been 95 corner meetings where Rahul Gandhi gives a short speech at the end of the day about the message of the Yatra.
“Apart from this, 10 big public meetings have been organized in which lakhs of people have participated. There have also been nine press conferences, one in each state, Ramesh said, where the media, especially the local media, have freely asked questions.
He said that the spirit of Bharat Jodo has been celebrated with visits to several important religious and spiritual centres, talks and performances by several artistes and two Bharat Jodo concerts.
“Through this series of public outreach efforts, the Yatra is an important milestone in the Congress Party’s rich tradition of representing the voice of all Indians,” Ramesh said.
Asked whether the concerns raised by him regarding the safety of Gandhi and other passengers have been addressed, Venugopal said the Delhi Police is holding a meeting on Monday to address such concerns.
He said that Rahul Gandhi is not afraid of any security concern as a large number of people are joining him. The journey has been incident-free so far and will continue to be so.
Venugopal said he has already held a meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on security arrangements in their states and has assured their cooperation.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)