3 yrs after visit to riot-hit North East Delhi, Rahul Gandhi returns

He started from the Marghat Hanuman Mandir in Kashmere Gate and proceeded to Northeast Delhi before entering Ghaziabad, from where it will progress further on Wednesday.

Rahul hit the Ring Road amid heavy police and paramilitary deployment before taking the Lohe Wala Pul to traverse the Yamuna into Northeast Delhi, for what happened to be his second visit to one of the most densely populated parts of the national capital, which had borne witness to the communal riots in late February 2020.

At Northeast Delhi, he and those walking with him were preceded by vehicles blaring theme songs dedicated to the yatra, in addition to age-old patriotic classics, and were welcomed by showers of rose petals and marigold flowers as he walked down Shastri Park, Gandhi Nagar, Dharampur, Seelampur, Jafrabad and Maujpur, among other areas. Residents flocked to the streets and daily life was wilfully put on hold in face of the urge to catch a glimpse of him.

Of the nine wards that Congress won in Delhi in the recent municipal polls, six were from the area.

“You just wait till 2024 to see what effect this will have on the BJP; if you have any doubts, just look at the number of people who have come out just to see him with their own eyes,” said Shakir Ali, a resident of Seelampur.

Makeshift stages were erected within a few hundred metres of each other along the entire route on the cusp of Ghaziabad, occupied by local party leaders and supporters.

Many others, who have been walking with Rahul for weeks now, rejoined him on Tuesday.

Nitin Ganpat from Kolhapur said he had been camping in Delhi for the last ten days to participate in the yatra. “This (the padyatra) is building the foundation for the Congress’s return to power in 2024, and I’m a part of that foundation,” he said.

Laxman Sadashiv Walekar from Maharashtra’s Sangamner said he had been in Delhi for five days to be a part of the yatra. “I have been following the yatra from Kanyakumari. This yatra is proof that the Congress believes in taking the people along instead of making decisions unilaterally.”

Former Congress spokesperson and Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi was also a part of the yatra, as were former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau and former Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) A S Dulat and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.

“I’m here not only because Rahul ji invited me personally like other MPs to be a part of the yatra…, but also because of the emotion of togetherness that it conveys. The time has come for the opposition to come together to confront the current situation in the country,” Chaturvedi told The Indian Express.

In Loni, Rahul was welcomed by Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh and his sister Priyanka Gandhi.

As the yatra halted in Loni, Priyanka said she was proud of those walking and spreading a message of love.

“I am most proud of you my dear brother. I am proud of you because the government spent thousands of crores of rupees to spoil your image. But you did not back down. He is a fighter,” she said, adding a word of caution against “the politics of hate.”

“If they are able to divide you, they will be able to distract you and you will not be able to focus on the important things,” she said.

As the yatra progressed towards its halt for the day, at Pavi Sadakpur in Loni, some locals questioned the need for it.

“He could have addressed a rally. Or better still, if he really wanted to meet us, he should have come to our homes to talk like people from other parties do instead of causing jams,” said a local resident, Sarita Kumari.

From Pavi Sadakpur, Rahul returned to his home in Delhi according to a party functionary, and is scheduled to resume the yatra from Pavi Sadakpur at 6 am on Wednesday.