Kanyakumari (TN), Sep 8 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with several of his party colleagues, embarked on the 3,570-km “Bharat Jodo Yatra” from here on Thursday, with the opposition party asserting that the cross-country grassroots campaign will see it emerge in a new aggressive avatar that cannot be taken for granted by either friends or political adversaries.
Amid sounds of drum beats, a sea of tricolour and slogans of “Bharat Jodo”, the march began from Vivekananda College Road, Agasteeswaram here as Gandhi was greeted by locals, who had lined up along the route. The former Congress chief interacted with those waiting to catch a glimpse of him.
Walking briskly, Gandhi, along with several top Congress leaders, covered 13 km in the morning session of the yatra. He walked about seven km in the evening when there was mass mobilisation and thousands walked along with the former Congress chief.
Terming the “Bharat Jodo Yatra” a life saver, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the cross-country grassroots campaign will see the party emerge in a new aggressive avatar that cannot be taken for granted by either friends or political adversaries.
Ramesh slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its criticism of the yatra.
The more the BJP talks about it, the more evident it is that the saffron party is rattled, Ramesh told PTI after the morning session of the yatra.
“I am 100-per cent sure that the Bharat Jodo Yatra is the ‘sanjivani’ for the Congress. It is a life saver, it is going to revive the Congress, it is going to refresh the Congress, it will renew the Congress, it will be a Congress in a new avatar,” the former Union minister said.
“Sanjivani” is a reference to a mythological life-saving herb figuring in the Hindu epic Ramayana.
The Congress has had many avatars in 137 years and there will be a new avatar now, Ramesh said.
“It will be a more aggressive Congress, it will be a more active Congress, it will be an on-the-street Congress…a Congress that cannot be taken for granted anymore, either by friends or by its political adversaries.
“We have been taken for granted even by our friends and allies, not just by our political opponents and adversaries,” he added.
During a media interaction at a school in Suchindrum here after the morning session of the yatra, Ramesh said the allies of the party who want to participate in the event are welcome to do so.
“This is not an opposition yatra, it is a yatra of the Congress. This is not a yatra for opposition unity, it is a yatra to strengthen the Congress. Opposition unity will only be possible when the Congress is strengthened,” he told reporters.
Ahead of the start of the “padyatra” (foot march), Gandhi, along with Kumari Anandan, a Congress leader aged above 90 years and the oldest participant in the event, hoisted the national flag at the camp site of the “Bharat Yatris”, who will walk with him through the 3,570-km journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
During the “padyatra”, Gandhi met the family of S Anitha, who allegedly committed suicide five years ago after failing to crack the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
After about a 13-km walk in the morning session, those participating in the yatra took rest at the SMSM Higher Secondary School, Suchindrum, which was also visited by Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari in 1937. Mahatma Gandhi had signed the school visitors’ book in both Hindi and Tamil.
Dressed in a white shirt, navy blue trousers and blue sports shoes, Gandhi planted saplings at the 101-year-old school. The water and soil with which the plantation was made were brought from Andaman.
Yatra organising panel chief Digvijaya Singh said water and soil will be brought from places that do not feature on the yatra route and five to 10 saplings will be planted by Gandhi wherever the march halts.
After the evening session of the yatra, which saw mass mobilisation by the Tamil Nadu Congress, Ramesh tweeted: “We have just completed Day 1 of Bharat Jodo Yatra. Bharat Yatris walked about 20 kms. It’s a great beginning for the first day.” “The crowds have been huge and their enthusiasm is visible. Headlinejeevi will do a lot to distract attention but only those who walk the talk count!” he added.
At the school, Gandhi had three interactive sessions with civil society members.
The first one was with women activists, the second with Dalit groups and the third with environmentalists.
Gandhi posted a picture on Twitter of him interacting with a kid and said children are the country’s future.
The former Congress chief also interacted with children and gave away prizes to the winners of a painting competition organised by the Jawahar Bal Manch. When a girl asked him about his plans regarding women empowerment, Gandhi said women should have more say in the society.
“I believe that women are smarter than men,” he added.
Ramesh said about 230 Congress “padyatris” participating in the yatra will spend the nights in 60 containers that will be moved daily from one place to another, mounted on trucks.
The yatris will halt at the Scott Christian College in Nagercoil on Thursday night.
Ramesh told reporters after the morning session of the yatra that there is no facility for eating food or meetings in the containers that will be stationed at temporary campsites of about two acres at night.
“There is no television, there is a fan,” he said, adding that the facilities of having food are provided at the camp sites.
The 119 “Bharat Yatris”, including Gandhi, who will walk the entire distance of 3,570 km, along with some “Atithi Yatris”, will be staying in the containers, Ramesh said.
“We are staying in the containers since Wednesday. There are 60 containers in which about 230 people stay. Every day the containers will move to a new site. Some are two-bed containers, some four-bed, some six-bed and some 12-bed,” he added.
Top Congress leaders, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram, Ramesh, as well as social activists Yogendra Yadav and Rajagopal P V are participating in the yatra.
Gandhi flagged off the yatra on Wednesday with the assertion that he will not lose his country to hate and accused the BJP-RSS of trying to divide India on religious lines.
The march would cover 12 states and two Union territories in about five months.
It will move in two batches from 7 am to 10:30 am and from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm. While the morning session will include fewer participants, the evening session will see mass mobilisation. The participants plan to walk around 22-23 km daily. About 30 per cent of the “Bharat Yatris” are women. The average age of the “Bharat Yatris” is 38. About 50,000 citizens have also registered to participate in the event.
After reaching Kerala on September 11, the yatra will traverse through the state for the next 19 days, reaching Karnataka on October 1. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days, before moving northwards.
The yatra will pass through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot and Jammu, before concluding in Srinagar. PTI ASK RC
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