A day after one of the most attended public rallies of the Congress in the recent past, state party chief Nana Patole on Saturday announced that Congress plans to continue the momentum and will organise a rally in each of the six revenue divisions in Maharashtra after the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in February. “These rallies will be held on issues faced by farmers, unemployment and communal hatred. The party will be inviting Soniaji, Priyankanji and Rahulji to address these rallies,” Patole told mediapersons. He said that the momentum created by the Bharat Jodo Yatra will be maintained till the next polls. Even as Patole plans on organising more rallies, the party leadership is mulling over options to continue with public engagements with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “This yatra has opened up several gateways of public engagement but when it comes to handling political moves, we need to plan a lot,” a senior leader said. He added, “The manner in which the BJP has already started campaign for the Lok Sabha polls by sending its top leaders and Union ministers to targetted constituencies, shows that merely a yatra will not suffice and ground work needs to be initiated at the earliest.” Another leader said that the follow-up of the yatra should be planned meticulously targeting constituencies. “We cannot and should not relax and wish for Rahul Gandhi to do things for us. He will be our face but at the same time, the yatra has shown that the party has huge scope and potential to grow in Maharashtra, which can only be achieved by reaching out to people at the local level,” a former Cabinet minister said. Earlier on Saturday, on the 72nd day of the yatra – marking the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and his grandmother Indira Gandhi – Rahul Gandhi walked with women leaders. He also interacted with delegations of activists and youth. Further, marking the day when three years ago the Union government had withdrawn the three controversial farm laws after sustained agitation by farmers, the yatra paid tributes to the farmers who lost their lives during the struggle. However, a controversy broke out during Rahul’s corner meeting after firecrackers were burst by unknown individuals. The meeting was organised to pay tributes to the farmers who had died during agitation against the farm laws. Rahul stopped his speech midway as organisers asked the police personnel present to take strict action against those who burst the crackers. An upset Rahul condemned those who lit the crackers before leaving the stage. “Those who did this have not only insulted the 733 dead farmers and their families but each and every farmer of the country,” he said.
