Ahead of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi visited his father Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
Chennai: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will embark on a 3,500 km journey — the Bharat Jodo Yatra — on Wednesday from Kanyakumari. The yatra will end in Kashmir and will be covered in nearly 150 days.
Ahead of the yatra, Rahul Gandhi visited his father Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. It is here that the former Prime Minister was assassinated in a suicide bombing on May 21, 1991. In a tweet Rahul said, “I lost my father to the politics of hate and division. I will not lose my beloved country to it too. Love will conquer hate. Hope will defeat fear. Together, we will overcome.”
The Congress, through the yatra, has planned a massive outreach programme ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, the leaders of the party said there is noting political in the yatra and that it is simply meant to “to unite the country”.
In the evening, Rahul Gandhi will attend an event at Kanyakumari’s Mahatma Gandhi Mandapam where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin will hand over the national flag to him for the yatra. The yatra, dubbed by the Congress as the “longest march” in the country over the last century, will be launched around 5 pm. A rally and the ‘padyatra’ will begin on Thursday morning.
As a part of the yatra, Congress workers and leaders, led by Rahul Gandhi, will walk in two batches between 7 am and 6.30 pm every day. The Bharat Jodo Yatra will cover 12 states and two union territories. In these 150 days, Rahul Gandhi will live in a container which will have a bed, a toilet and an air conditioner. Similar containers have also been set up for the others who will walk the entire route.
