Thousands thronged the Bharat Jodo Yatra as it entered Delhi on Saturday. Led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was clad in his usual white half-sleeves T-shirt despite the winter chill at 5.4 degrees, the numbers only swelled with people, Congress workers and leaders joining it as the day progressed and the foot march straddled through the charted-out routes of Delhi.
Rahul’s mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra joined the Yatra just before it reached Ashram.
This was the second time that Sonia joined the Yatra that began in September from Kanyakumari. She had first taken part in the march in October when it was in Karnataka. Also, this was the first time the entire Gandhi family walked together in the Yatra.
The atmosphere attained a festive hue as slogans cheering Rahul and the Yatra rented through the air even as drums and patriotic songs played along and the enthusiasm of the Congress yatris was at its peak. The road from Badarpur to Ashram was decked up with tricolours, balloons and banners of Rahul as the Yatra entered Delhi from the Faridabad side in Haryana. Party workers had lined up along the route and showered flower petals on the yatris. A large number of workers from Delhi Congress, led by Delhi unit chief Anil Chaudhary, welcomed Rahul and the Yatris at the Delhi border in Badarpur.
A group of visually-impaired students from South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar area set up a camp on one of the routes of Yatra. Around 15-20 blind students gathered on the route of Apollo hospital holding banners and chanting slogans “Nafrat Chodo, Bharat Jodo” (forget hatred, unite India). Saransh, a visually-impaired student, said they participated in the Yatra to “protest against rising unemployment” in the country. He said there are several blind students who have excelled in education but remained unemployed for years. Gulshan Kumar, another 12-year-old blind student, said he participated in the Yatra aiming to “eliminate hatred between communities” and raise his “voice against inflation.”
Apart from several senior Congress leaders like Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Randeep Surjewala, Shaktisinh Gohil, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Shyam Singh Yadav and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader T Sumathi also took part in the padyatra with Rahul. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh joined Rahul at Nizamuddin dargah where Rahul offered chadar. The yatra reached Ashram Chowk in South Delhi around 10 am where Rahul and all other Bharat Yatris rested for a while at Jairam Ashram. Rahul visited the Siyaram Darbar here. At around 1 in the afternoon, the yatra started again
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Hasan joined the Yatra at ITO. Commuters in Delhi faced a torrid time on Saturday morning as traffic was severely affected in parts of the capital as the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by party leader Rahul, entered the city. Busy road stretches, such as the National Highway 24 at Ghazipur, Delhi Meerut expressway, the ITO intersection, Red Fort, India Gate and the Ashram chowk witnessed massive traffic snarls due to security arrangements and road diversions.
Rahul stopped his Yatra near Apollo hospital to give way to an ambulance in the morning and also asked fellow Yatris to give way to the ambulance.
Congress workers set up camps at various places on the route of the Yatra, where song and dance programmes were organised. Party supporters were seen chanting slogans like “Nafrat Chodo, Bharat Jodo” (quit hatred, unite India). A large number of youth supporters, who claimed to be protesting against “unemployment” by showing solidarity with the Yatra, were also seen. People were also seen lining up to have a glimpse of the procession. Security from Badarpur to Red Fort was beefed up, with barricades erected and teams of police personnel deployed at multiple points. Heavy security arrangements and crowds at the Yatra led to massive traffic jams in major roads in Delhi.
A large number of people eager to catch a glimpse of the Congress leader thronged the roads, tried to occupy pavements and dividers or wherever they got space. "We reached Nizamuddin area in one-and-a-half hours from Ashram. There is so much traffic," said Hemant, an autorickshaw driver who was ferrying passengers to drop them at the New Delhi railway station. The distance takes roughly about 25 minutes.
Another commuter, Amit, might miss his train to Ahmedabad. "You want to take out yatra, do it but think of the traffic and the problems people face," he said. On reaching near Nizamuddin dargah, many passengers were seen carrying their luggage and walking. One of the commuters, Suman, said no auto is ready to come on this route. "What we get to hear from auto rickshaw drivers is that since Bharat Jodo Yatra is going on, there is traffic jam, so they don’t wish to go through that route and so we have not been getting any vehicle," he said.
Rajkumar, who left home to drop his sister to her work, got stuck and she got late for office. "We took almost two hours to reach Jungpura from Badarpur due to this yatra. There is no proper traffic management," he said.
Supriya was out to visit the dargah but decided to go back upon seeing the traffic and the crowd."It is like madness here. No management. Why is traffic allowed on the road where people are walking," she questioned.
