Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which has been travelling through five states in south India for almost two months, will soon arrive in Maharashtra. The uncertainty surrounding Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackery’s participation in the Rahul Gandhi-led Yatra, however, persists. Party leaders said here on Sunday that the Yatra will reportedly arrive at Madnur Naka in Nanded district’s bordering Telangana in the evening.
A sizable crowd was anticipated to join Gandhi on his “Bharat Jodo Yatra,” which started in Tamil Nadu and continued through Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana before entering the central Indian phase from Maharashtra.
Rahul Gandhi will begin the 14-day Maharashtra leg of the Yatra on Tuesday morning after spending the previous night resting at a local mill ground in Deglur town. During this leg, he will travel through six Lok Sabha and 15 Assembly constituencies over a distance of 381 km in five districts of the Marathwada-Vidarbha regions.
He will march for the next two weeks in the state in a gruelling four-hour morning schedule starting at 6 a.m. and a three-hour evening schedule starting at 4.30 p.m., passing through hamlets, villages, towns, and cities along the way.
The Wayanad MP, who is already well-liked for his down-to-earth demeanour, impressive physical condition, and brisk walking gait, will also speak at two significant rallies, in which, according to Congress leaders, several lakhs of participants from all over the state are anticipated at various locations along the route.
The BJY will enter Madhya Pradesh on November 20 after passing through the districts of Nanded, Hingoli, Washim, Akola, and Buldhana; however, there are reportedly ongoing efforts to change the schedules and add three more days in Maharashtra in response to local leaders’ demands. Gandhi will speak at two significant rallies on November 10 and in Buldhana on November 18.
Additionally, throughout the BJY, he holds daily brief meetings, has one-on-one conversations with residents, holds impromptu meetings on street corners, mingles with the populace, and addresses issues such as inflation, unemployment, skyrocketing fuel prices, women’s safety, etc.
At various points, prominent members of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, which consists of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, and Shiv Sena-UBT, will join the Bharat Jodo Yatra. In spite of his precarious health, NCP President Sharad Pawar had promised to march alongside Gandhi. In contrast, Sena-UBT President and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray may send a high-level delegation made up of senior leaders to walk a portion of the BJY.
The Udhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena will send Arvind Sawant and Manisha Kayande on the yatra.
Several prominent congressmen, including Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat, Bhaijagtap, Ashok Chavan, and others, will participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The 3,570-km Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started on September 7 in Kanyakumari, will travel an additional 2,355 km. Next year, it will conclude in Kashmir. The Congress asserted earlier in a statement that it is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in India’s history.
Numerous political parties and social organisations around the nation are supporting the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and support is growing daily. The NCP and Shiv Sena (Thackeray group) have also committed to take part in the yatra in Maharashtra, which increases its significance.
Notably, Rahul Gandhi and all of the party’s MPs, leaders, and workers are residing in shipping containers. Some of the containers even have AC units, toilets, and sleeping mattresses. The arrangements were made with the new location’s extreme heat and humidity in mind.
The assembly elections for this year’s elections were a disaster for the Congress, and the Yatra is considered as an effort to galvanise the party’s base for the forthcoming elections.
