Days after Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra crossed Haryana, a new trend of politicians getting out on the roads and holding similar rallies have started emerging in the state that is scheduled to go to polls in 2024. After January 30 whenBharat Jodo Yatra will conclude in Srinagar, the Haryana unit of Congress led by HPCC president Udai Bhan and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be conducting a two-month-long “Haath-se-Haath jodo abhiyan”, a mass-connect programme eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha as well as Vidhan Sabha polls. Indian National Lok Dal MLA from Ellenabad and former Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala has also announced a state-wide seven-month long yatra being dubbed as Parivartan rally covering all the 90 assembly constituencies. Now, Independent MLA from Meham Balraj Kundu has also announced a similar Yatra that he shall be beginning from January 26. Kundu, in February 2020, had withdrawn his support to BJP on floor of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha while the budget session was going on. Kundu had accused CM Manohar Lal Khattar of not taking action against the corrupt. Since then, Kundu has remained a vocal critic of the state government. “I had planned to start the yatra from November 1, 2022, on the occasion of Haryana Diwas, but due to certain reasons I could not do so. So now I have decided to start it from January 26 and will cover rural areas of the state. The aim of the yatra will be to make the youths aware,” Kundu said, adding that the yatra will start from Nangal Chaudhary in Mahendragarh and daily he would walk for 23-25 km. Talking to The Indian Express, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “As a follow up to Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, the state unit of Congress will conduct the Haath-se-Haath-Jodo Yatra for a mass-connect ahead of the state Assembly polls.” INLD's Abhay Chautala's yatra will start on February 20 from Nuh and conclude on September 25, the birth anniversary of INLD founder and former deputyPM Devi Lal. INLD state chief Nafe Singh Rathi said, “A nine-member committee has been formed to work out all the modalities and prepare a route map. The committee members include retired IAS officer RS Chaudhary, former DGP of Haryana MS Malik, former chief Parliamentary secretary Sham Singh Rana, Prakash Bharti, Karan Singh Chautala, Sumitra Devi, Umed Lohan and Surjit Sandhu.” An INLD office bearer added, “February 20 is celebrated as World Day for Social Justice, which is why this day has been chosen to begin this padyatra so that people of Haryana can be saved from the BJP-JJP coalition government and INLD can come back to power to serve the people of Haryana, farmers and all other sections of the society”. BJP is also on an expansion spree ahead of the 2024 polls. BJP state chief Om Prakash Dhankar has given a target of inducting 4 lakh Panna-pramukhs across Haryana. The party president has asked the district presidents and other office bearers to ensure that all the Panna Pramukhs be assigned their specific duties and tasks by January 31st and all of them shall be made part of workshops to be conducted till April 6, BJP's foundation day. The BJP state president has also asked all the MPs, MLAs, district presidents to achieve their specific targets of inducting the Panna Pramukhs in their respective constituencies so that the party can move forward with its strategy for the 2024 polls.
