After six days in Punjab, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Himachal Pradesh Wednesday morning. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and State Congress President Pratibha Singh were among the party leaders who welcomed Gandhi for the one-day leg of the Yatra in the hill state. The flag handover ceremony was held in the border village of Ghatota in Himachal Pradesh as Punjab Congress handed it over to the hill state’s leaders. Sukhu and Singh thanked Gandhi for including Himachal Pradesh in the Yatra, which was not in the scheduled itinerary. Gandhi said, “You had asked that Yatra should pass through Himachal Pradesh. We changed the entire route.” The Congress leader added, “We gave little time to Himachal Pradesh, only one day, more time should have been given.” He added the Yatra has to reach Srinagar on January 30, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. “I have come to walk with you with a lot of expectations,” Gandhi told the gathering. He also lashed out at the BJP for capturing government institutions as well as on the issue of demonetisation, “wrong” GSTs, and farmers. Speaking on the occasion, Pratibha Singh said she had assured during a meeting in Delhi before the Assembly elections “Himachal Pradesh aapki jholi mein aayega (Congress will win Himachal Pradesh elections)”. She added, “The beginning has been made in dev bhoomi of Himachal Pradesh and similarly we will hoist the Congress flag in every state… The people of entire India are with you.” Singh also said the Congress government had already fulfilled the Old Pension Scheme promise and would fulfil the remaining promises made in its election manifesto over the period of time. In his address, Sukhu attributed the Congress victory in Himachal Pradesh to the “policies of Rahul Gandhi”. He said, “The victory [of Congress] in Himachal Pradesh is the victory of your policies where you hoisted the flag of Congress by defeating lies of BJP.” Sukhu said, “Truth always collides with lies, but in the end, only truth triumphs.” Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said, “I am very lucky that this Yatra passed through Punjab during my stint [as Punjab Congress president).” Punjab’s Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa hoped the Yatra will get tremendous traction and love in Himachal Pradesh. The one-day Himachal Pradesh leg of the Yatra is scheduled to halt near Kshatriya College, Nadoun Kathgarh Road, Indora in the morning break. This stretch of the road falls in the Kangra district. In the evening, Gandhi will address a corner meeting in Malot in the Kangra district before heading to Shah Colony in Pathankot for a night halt. On Thursday, on the last day of the Yatra in Punjab, Gandhi will address a rally in Pathankot before crossing over to Jammu and Kashmir.
