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This is an archive article published on November 8, 2022

No one can stop Bharat Jodo Yatra, will unfurl Tiranga in Srinagar: Rahul Gandhi

Moments after garlanding the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Congress leader said, “No power can stop the yatra, neither rain nor storm. The yatra started two months ago from Kanyakumari and at the end of the march, we will unfurl the tiranga in Srinagar.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Kamareddy. (PTI Photo)Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Kamareddy. (PTI Photo)

No one can stop the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said as his pan-India march entered Maharashtra for its 14-day journey on Monday. The first stop for the leader was Deglur in Nanded district where the yatra received a rousing welcome as it reached around 9.30pm, two hours after the expected arrival time. Gandhi said the yatra would see the tricolour being unfurled in Srinagar in the end.

Moments after garlanding the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Congress leader said, “No power can stop the yatra, neither rain nor storm. The yatra started two months ago from Kanyakumari and at the end of the march, we will unfurl the tiranga in Srinagar.”

Gandhi said the yatra would unite the country while raising voice against those spreading anger and hatred.

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During the yatra’s Maharashtra leg, Gandhi said, he would hear grievances of farmers, labourers and the poor.

Attacking the Prime Minister, Gandhi said, “Due to the wrong policies of Narendra Modi, unemployment in the country is rising, farmers have been hit hard, small and medium scale industries have been severely affected…Modi’s wrong polices, notebandhi, GST have broken the backbone of the country.”

Pointing at the rising unemployment and inflation, Gandhi said, “In the past, when the gas cylinder price had reached Rs 400-mark, Narendra Modi had protested. And now when the gas cylinder price has gone beyond Rs 1,000, the Prime Minister is silent. Similarly, petrol price has gone beyond Rs 100, but he is keeping quiet.”

The yatra was welcomed by senior Congress leaders Ashok Chavan, MPCC chief Nana Patole and Balasaheb Thorat. Chavan and Thorat were seen on the stage with Gandhi.

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Earlier in the day, Chavan said, “The newly-elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will join the yatra on November 10. NCP chief Sharad Pawar will also likely join the yatra the same day.”

Among the top Congress leaders who reached Nanded for the yatra was former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, part of the G-23 grouping of the party.

Congress’s chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “Congress rank and file will be present in Nanded for next four days.”

Asked whether Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will join the yatra, Londhe said though a delegation of Congress leaders had met and invited him last month, they have not yet received any confirmation.

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When approached for a comment, Uddhav Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said, “The announcement in this regard will be made soon.” Sources in the party said while Uddhav Thackeray will not join the yatra due to health reasons, his son and former minister Aaditya Thackeray will attend it.

Londhe said Rahul Gandhi will cover 382 kilometres during his Maharashtra yatra. “He will be touring five districts, including Buldhana, Akola, Hingoli and Washim,” he said.

Asked why the yatra has skipped Western Maharashtra, a Congress leader said, “It is a vertical yatra…It is not possible to deviate to the other end. From Maharashtra, the yatra will move on to Madhya Pradesh.”

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.   Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were  asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.     Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More


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