Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Uttar Pradesh’s Mavikala village in Baghpat district on Tuesday night. After a night halt, the yatra resumed its journey from Baghpat district at 6 am on Wednesday with a grand fireworks display.
Farmers from nearby areas welcomed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the yatra, with tractor-trolleys filled with flowers.
According to the farmers, Rahul Gandhi should walk not on the streets but on a path of flowers, and so they brought four quintals of flowers for the yatra.
Congress’ Baghpat district unit chief Yunus Chowdhary said the yatra would enter Baraut town later in the day where Rahul Gandhi would address a gathering of people before leaving for Shamli district.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra entered UP on Tuesday via Ghaziabad's Loni border. It will travel though Uttar Pradesh for two days and reach Panipat in Haryana by Thursday evening.
On the political front, while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary maintained a distance, they congratulated the Congress for the yatra. However RLD workers welcomed and joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Baghpat.
Champat Rai, secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said, "I express my gratitude to a young man (Rahul Gandhi) who is walking in the country. I appreciate this step."
He added, "I am a worker of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the RSS never condemns Bharat Jodo Yatra". Rahul Gandhi is walking in this weather, it should be appreciated. I must say that everyone should travel the country."
Acharya Satyendra Das, chief priest of Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, has written a letter to Rahul Gandhi, praising the objective of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and wishing him the best.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, will end with the hoisting of the national flag by Rahul Gandhi in Srinagar on January 30.
The yatra has covered 3,122 kilometres so far. Over the period of 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.