The two-day Uttar Pradesh leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra ended on Thursday with a massive turnout of “more than a lakh people” participating in the foot march led by former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
While Rahul received applause from RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary for taking up the cause of farmers close to his heart, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge too flagged off an over 1,000 km long march, inspired by Rahul ,in Banka district of Bihar.
Congress’ ally in Bihar government, Janata Dal (U) is also scheduled to launch a yatra named ‘Samadhan Yatra’ led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
A large number of people who walked along Rahul in Shamli in Western UP were from the farming sector who had protested for one year at Delhi border against the Centre’s controversial farm laws which had to be withdrawn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A Congress spokesman claimed that all records seems to have been broken in UP when more than a lakh people were seen on roads and streets of Shamli for the foot march. A day earlier Rahul was welcomed over flowers’ pavement created by the farmers.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra re-entered Haryana on Thursday evening from where Rahul left for Delhi to meet his ailing mother UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
He will return on Friday morning to start the Haryana sojourn of the yatra.
The Bihar padyatra, which would cover a major part of the state, was launched close to the "Mandar" hills, about 250 km from the state capital, which finds a mention in Hindu mythology. Kharge, who was visiting Bihar for the first time after getting elected to the top post of his party, slammed the BJP government at the Centre for "failure to provide employment to the youth" and diverting public attention with "communally charged rhetoric". Bihar congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh was also present on the occasion.