Aug 17, 2022 06:55 am ISTHindustan Times, New Delhi
The party will mostly travel on foot and will travel on highways by vehicle. Rahul Gandhi will stay with him for a long time during the journey. The party can also hold big public meetings.
The Congress Party, which is struggling to save its existence, is starting Bharat Jodo Yatra from September 7. This journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will be completed in about five months. During the yatra, the party will focus more on election states. The party is seeing this yatra as a nationwide public relations campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Will reach Kashmir from Kanyakumari
Actually, Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach Kashmir from Kanyakumari via about 12 states and two union territories. The party will mostly travel on foot and will travel on highways by vehicle. According to a senior party leader, Rahul Gandhi will remain with him for a long time during the padyatra. Meanwhile, the party can also hold big public meetings at about two dozen places during the entire yatra.
Direct contact between leadership and people
Congress is considering Bharat Jodo Yatra as a big public relations campaign. The party has not undertaken any major travel in the last several years. In such a situation, there will be direct contact between the party leadership and the people through Bharat Jodo Yatra. According to a senior party leader, during the yatra, Rahul Gandhi will walk about twenty to 25 kilometers every day. He will stay in a tent instead of a hotel.
Objective: To understand people’s issues
Along with this, there will be discussion with the local people during every night rest of the party. The purpose of this discussion is to understand the issues people face with Indian couples. So that these issues can be included at the time of election manifesto. With this, the party aims to improve its image during the yatra, strengthen the organization and establish direct connect of the party leadership with the people.
Organization elections in the final round
This visit of Congress is taking place at a time when the organization elections in the party are in the final stages. By the time the yatra begins, the picture regarding the new party president will be clear. Party leaders and workers are demanding Rahul Gandhi to assume the post of president once again. In such a situation, Bharat Jodo Yatra will be Rahul Gandhi’s first nationwide public relations campaign as party president.
‘The country is in great need of Bharat Connect Yatra’
Addressing workers at Indira Bhavan, the party headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, All India Congress Committee general secretary and in-charge of Kerala, Tariq Anwar said that at the recent Udaipur Chintan Shivir, it was decided that the party should hold a big program to connect with the people and oppose the ideology of BJP and RSS.
Anwar said that therefore we feel that uniting India is the need of the hour. This is extremely needed because nowadays disruptive forces are very active and these forces are being protected by the central government. He said that therefore Congress has decided to take out a padyatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. After inaugurating the coordination committee under the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee regarding the yatra in the state, he said that Rahul Gandhi will lead the yatra.