Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra led by former party chief Rahul Gandhi resumed on Tuesday after a week break in the national Capital which saw presence of National Conference leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah and former Congress leader now a Shiv Sena member in Rajya Sabha Priyanka Chaturvedi.
On the day Congress general Secretary and Uttara Pradesh incharge Priyanka Gandhi, who joined the yatra alongwith her family members including children, described her bother Rahul a "warrior" who is not afraid of the might of the government. She did the customary welcoming of the yatra at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
Among those who joined the yatra in Delhi included AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, party MP Pramod Tiwari, Delhi Congress chief Anil Kumar Chaudhary and other Congress leaders like Ambika Soni and Abhishek Dutt.
Party's Uttar Pradesh Congress chief and former MP Brijlal Khabri and CLP leader in Uttar Pradesh Aradhna Mishra were among those present at the Delhi-Ghaziabad Loni border. While Chaturvedi participated in Delhi after the yatra resume from Hanuman Mandir near Kashmere gate ISBT, Abdullah joined when it reached Ghaziabad. Former RAW chief Amarjit Singh Dulat also joined the yatra.
“Joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi in solidarity with the idea of an India which celebrates unity in its diversity. Best wishes to Rahul Gandhi as the yatra moves ahead,” Chaturvedi said while walking along Rahul. "The time has come for the opposition to unite and confront the current situation in the country," Chaturvedi added, who was a spokeperson in Congress before joining Shiv Sena.
The State top leaders like SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP suprmeo Mayawati, both former Chief Ministers, who were invited by Rahul to join the yatra when it moves in UP excused themselves but wished Rahul the best and good luck for the yatra to go ahead.
After an expression of brother sister bonding when the yatra entered the most politically versatile state of UP that is eyed by major political parties for the number game in Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi claimed big industrialists like "Adani and Ambani may have bought many a politician, PSUs and the media", but "they have not been, and will never be, able to buy my brother".
“People say Rahul Gandhi does not feel cold even in winter, this is because he is wearing the shield of truth," Priyanka said. Rahul Gandhi has been constantly seen wearing T-shirts in this chilly weather conditions in northern India and has been questioned over this attire in many occasion.
Priyanka said she was proud of welcoming the yatra, which entered Uttar Pradesh traversing 3,000 kms from Kanyakumari. "Look at my elder brother, I take the maximum pride in you. Because the establishment put all its pressure. The government spent thousands of crores to destroy his image. But, he did not deter from the path of truth. Agencies were deployed but he did not feel afraid, as he is a warrior," she said at the Loni border.
She said Rahul has opened "the shop" to spread love in the "market of hatred" and was marching to unite the people. "I urge everyone in Uttar Pradesh to open a franchise of this 'mohabbat ki dukaan' (shop to spread love)," she said.
AICC in-charge for Delhi affairs of the party Shaktisinh Gohil said he saw a great turnout in Delhi. "The yatra has been a huge success and we have received a great response from the public," he said.
The yatra will travel though Uttar Pradesh for two days and will enter Haryana's Panipat by Thursday evening. On the first night on Tuesday, it will halt at Mavikala in Baghpat. After traversing Punjab and a day through Himachal Pradesh, the yatra will enter Jammu and Kashmir.
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 so far covered 3,122 km from Gandhi Mandapam in Kanyakumari to the Red Fort in Delhi.
Over the 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.
AICC spokesman informed so far, there have been 87 sitting interactions of 30-40 min with various groups, usually 20-30 people in each group. These groups raise various issues of the localities and states we are walking through and there have been over 200 planned walks with smaller groups of 4-5 people, which range from celebrities to intellectuals to activists to ex-servicemen to local children.
To convey the message of the yatra, there have been 95 corner meetings, where Rahul Gandhi makes a short speech about the message of the yatra at the end of the day. In addition, 10 large public meetings have been held, to which lakhs of people have attended. There have also been nine press conferences so far, the last one being in Delhi on December 31.