Rahul Gandhi Bharat Jodo Yatra Highlights: ‘Yatra is against fear, hatred, inflation and unemployment,’ says Rahul

Two things became clear in the first week of this year. The BJP is going to use Hindutva as its main weapon in the next general election. And Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra appears to be causing concern at the highest levels of Narendra Modi’s inner circle. I base this bit of political analysis on a speech that the Home Minister made in Tripura. As reported on the front page of this newspaper last Friday, Amit Shah directed his remarks at ‘Rahul baba’ and said that he should ‘open his ears and listen carefully’ to the announcement that on January 1, 2024, the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be ready to welcome worshippers. Tavleen Singh writes

On Thursday, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, the newly elected Bihar Congress president, set off on a 1,250-km state-wide march from the historic Mandar Hill area of Banka district to Bodh Gaya. In neighbouring West Bengal, his counterpart Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury too is on the road, leading an 800-plus km walk across the state, which began from the southernmost tip of Gangasagar just a few days ago. He is walking up to Darjeeling.

On the third day of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra’s second phase in Haryana Sunday, a group of youngsters once again greeted him by removing their shirts, expressing solidarity with the Congress leader, who has been moving around in a t-shirt despite the cold weather. On Saturday, too, in Karnal, a few youngsters greeted Rahul by removing their shirts.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him has received an overwhelming response everywhere in the country, asserting that the foot march is against hatred and fear being spread in society as well as against unemployment and inflation. He said the Yatra's purpose is also to let people hear the true voice of the country.

"Bharat Jodo Yatra has received overwhelming response everywhere," Gandhi says addressing media in Samana near Kurukshetra. Talking about the Kanyakumari to Kashmir foot march, which is currently passing through Haryana, Gandhi said he got to to learn many things during the course of the journey so far.

"What is in the country's heart got to hear that directly (interacting with people). The Yatra has received good response in Haryana -- it is energetic, enthusiastic response," he said. In an attack on the critics of the Yatra, Gandhi said when it was started, "people said the response which we got in Kerala, we won't get that in Karnataka, which is a BJP-ruled state. But we got even better response there. Then they said the Yatra got a response in south India, but when it reaches Maharashtra, it won't get that response. When we reached Maharashtra, we got an even better response than the south".

"Then it was said we will not get good response when the Yatra passes through the Hindi belt, but in Madhya Pradesh there was even more improvement to the response. When we reached Haryana, it was said it is a BJP-ruled state, but here too the response was overwhelming. As we are moving forward, the response is improving," he said. 

Replying to a question, Gandhi said, "The voice of India which is being suppressed, the fear which is being spread and India which is being divided, one caste being put up against the other, one religion being put up against the other, this Yatra is against that." There is other purpose of this Yatra that we are seeing is that this Yatra is like a "tapasya", he added. "We love our country, we love our people, farmers, poor and we want to walk with them. So, Yatra's purpose is also that people of this country get to hear true voice of the country," the Congress leader said. (PTI)

While addressing reporters in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: "The voice of India is being silenced... fear is being spread... the country is being divided... different castes and religions are being incited against the other -- our Yatra is against all of this. The march also has another goal -- it's my personal goal and that of those walking with me. We see this Yatra as a 'tapasya'. We love our country, our people, farmers and the poor. We want to walk with them."

"The Yatra is to make people hear the true voice of India. I can't comment now on whether this would help us politically or not. The Yatra is meant for awareness and wants to symbolise three things: unite the country, stand up against fear, and don't spread hatred. Secondly, the Yatra wants to talk about the economic inequality in the country. The wealth and media in the country are concentrated in the hands of 3-4 people. This has caused unemployment and inflation," he added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Sunday asserted that the Bharat Jodo Yatra was against fear, hatred, inflation, and unemployment. He was addressing the media near Kurukshetra. (PTI)

Quoting the Bhagavad Gita, Rahul Gandhi said: "It is said in the Gita to 'Do your work, don't worry about the result'. When Arjun was aiming at the eye of the fish, he did not say what he would do after aiming."

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: @RahulGandhi ?? pic.twitter.com/4tdmXFvFbz

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 8, 2023

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Sunday stated that the Bharat Jodo Yatra received an overwhelming response everywhere. He was addressing the media near Kurukshetra. (PTI)

While addressing reporters in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: "Some said we won't be getting a response from people for the yatra in BJP-ruled states and in the Hindi belt. But, on the contrary, we got a good response in these states and it's only getting improved." (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra might have created quite a buzz during its Uttar Pradesh leg but parties say no political meaning should be attached to their leaders welcoming the march in the state, and that it would be premature to link it with opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Political leaders of main opposition Samajwadi Party and BSP had wished success to the yatra in Uttar Pradesh through separate tweets, while the RLD had joined the yatra in the state after receiving an invitation for participation.

RLD workers were seen at the yatra which traversed through western region of the state, the stronghold of the party. However, RLD president Jayant Chaudhary was missing as he was out of the country at that time.

"The workers of the RLD welcomed the Bharat Jodo Yatra as Rahul Gandhi has set out to strengthen brotherhood against communal politics and the president of RLD Jayant Chaudhary also is convening 'bhaichara sammelans' all over UP for the same purpose," RLD national spokesman Anil Dubey said.

He said every leader or worker, who talks about 'bhaichara' or fights against communal forces will be welcomed by the RLD.

Gandhi was on a yatra in Baghpat in western Uttar Pradesh where the tradition has been since the time of Chaudhary Charan Singh to welcome all guests and the Congress leader had come for a good mission so the RLD welcomed him, Dubey said. (PTI)

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— Congress (@INCIndia) January 8, 2023

Two things became clear in the first week of this year. The BJP is going to use Hindutva as its main weapon in the next general election. And Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra appears to be causing concern at the highest levels of Narendra Modi’s inner circle.

I base this bit of political analysis on a speech that the Home Minister made in Tripura. As reported on the front page of this newspaper last Friday, Amit Shah directed his remarks at ‘Rahul baba’ and said that he should ‘open his ears and listen carefully’ to the announcement that on January 1, 2024, the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be ready to welcome worshippers. Read full Opinion piece by Tavleen Singh here

On Thursday, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, the newly elected Bihar Congress president, set off on a 1,250-km state-wide march from the historic Mandar Hill area of Banka district to Bodh Gaya. In neighbouring West Bengal, his counterpart Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury too is on the road, leading an 800-plus km walk across the state, which began from the southernmost tip of Gangasagar just a few days ago. He is walking up to Darjeeling.

Further east in Assam, their counterpart Bhupen Kumar Borah completed a gruelling march of over 835 km across the state, from Golakganj in Dhubri district on the West Bengal-Assam border to Sadiya in the easternmost point of the state just a few days ago. A similar yatra is underway in Odisha too. The state units of Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Assembly election-bound Tripura too have organised yatras, several small ones. Read full Political Pulse by Manoj C G here

Amid severe cold and foggy weather conditions, Rahul Gandhi-led 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' resumed Sunday morning from Dodwa in Karnal's Nilokheri region as part of its Haryana leg. The foot march had reached Karnal district on Saturday from neighbouring Panipat.

Despite severe cold and fog, scores of people joined the Yatra as it was passing through Karnal, which is also the home constituency of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Senior party leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kumari Selja are part of the yatra as it passes through Haryana. The yatra will reach Kurukshetra district later in the day where Gandhi is scheduled to perform 'aarti' in the evening at the holy Brahma Sarovar. (PTI)

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— Congress (@INCIndia) January 8, 2023

Rahul Gandhi will be addressing the media at 1 pm today, the Congress party announced Sunday via its official Twitter handle. 

The Yatra saw people gathered in large numbers, walking with enthusiasm as the yatra resumed from the Dodwa-Taraori crossing on Sunday morning. 

According to ANI, the yatra will stop for a night halt at Pratapgarh GT Road in Kurukshetra.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on Saturday won grudging praise, couched in sarcasm, from political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor.

Kishor, who is on a padayatra in his home state Bihar, was asked by journalists in Motihari about parallels, if any, he saw between his own effort and the marathon march of Gandhi.

"Bade log hain (they are big people). Compared with them, I am a nobody," said Kishor whose 'Jan Suraaj' campaign in Bihar came after a lengthy round of failed negotiations with the top leadership of the Congress, which he had wanted to join and was confident of reviving using his professional skills.

"Rahul Gandhi is on a 3,500 km-long march. For me, kilometres do not matter. I have been walking non-stop since October. But I do not want to show it off as evidence of my physical fitness," Kishor remarked, with thinly veiled sarcasm. (PTI)

On Thursday, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, the newly elected Bihar Congress president, set off on a 1,250-km state-wide march from the historic Mandar Hill area of Banka district to Bodh Gaya. In neighbouring West Bengal, his counterpart Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury too is on the road, leading an 800-plus km walk across the state, which began from the southernmost tip of Gangasagar just a few days ago. He is walking up to Darjeeling.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday met athletes from Haryana during Bharat Jodo Yatra along with fellow leader Deepender Hooda.

On his interaction with the athletes, Hooda told ANI, "Everyone told Rahul Gandhi that under the current government's sports policy, players are banned from getting jobs on sports quota. Earlier, there used to be recruitment in every department (under sports quota). Now only 3.3 per cent jobs are being given on quota. The policy of 'win a medal and get a job' has been done away with." Hooda warned that if such policies continue, the country will face a big loss.

"If such policies continue, the country will suffer a big loss. Rahul Gandhi has said if we form the government (at the state), we will restore the 'Padak Lao Pad Pao' policy," he added. (ANI)

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— Congress (@INCIndia) January 7, 2023

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel while interacting with the media on Saturday suggested research be conducted on 'people staying without clothes' as Rahul Gandhi enters Haryana leading 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'. Baghel made this suggestion when asked about the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi roaming in just a t-shirt in the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

He said, "It's not happening for the first time in the country. Naga Sadhus, Digambar Jain Muni, many people stay without clothes. Research should be done on the issues which Rahul Ji is raising."

Baghel also took a jibe at the Central government and Home Minister Amit Shah before his visit to the state. He claimed, "He (Union Home Minister Amit Shah) is coming (to state) for Lok Sabha polls and not for state Assembly polls. Bharatiya Janata Party is taking forward two of its favourite topics: conversion and polarisation. In the last four years, our party increased the income of all the groups including farmers and women."

The 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' marched in Karnal, Haryana today along with colourful processions. Despite the dense fog covering most of the northern belt, the supporters of the yatra waived the national flag and danced to the beat of the drums on Saturday.

The yatra entered Haryana through Sanauli Khurd village in Panipat and is expected to cover four districts across the state from January 5 to 10.

Bharat Jodo Yatra covered over 130 km in the first phase in Haryana between December 21-23 when it passed through Nuh, Gurugram, and Faridabad districts. (ANI)

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Saturday attended a kabaddi match between Haryana and Punjab. He was also the chief guest at the event.

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— Congress (@INCIndia) January 7, 2023

Senior leaders including former chief minister Bhupinder Hooda, Congress state president Udai Bhan and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda also watched the match.

The Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Punjab through the Shambhu border on January 10, the Congress' state unit president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said on Saturday, news agency PTI reported.

After entering Punjab, the march will head to Fatehgarh Sahib. Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting on January 11 after paying obeisance at the gurdwara there, he added. 

Warring said the yatra will traverse through Punjab for seven days and a mega-rally will be organized at Pathankot on the concluding day before it leaves for Jammu and Kashmir from Madhopur on its last leg. 

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interacted with sportspersons and administrators during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Haryana on Saturday. International boxer Vijender Singh also walked with him.

Haryana has produced some of India's top athletes. Shri @RahulGandhi interacted with sportspersons and administrators in the state, today.#BharatJodoYatra pic.twitter.com/LPhhh4voUQ

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 7, 2023

Gandhi is also scheduled to be chief guest at a kabaddi match between Haryana and Punjab. Senior leaders including former chief minister Bhupinder Hooda, Congress state president Udai Bhan and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda will also watch the match.

n Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress is now reduced to one MP, two MLAs and less than 2 per cent vote share, the three-day Bharat Jodo Yatra through the state was a reason for cheer after a long time.

As Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra got a good response in Haryana, Home Minister Anil Vij mocked the Congress leader tweeting that ‘Pappu remains Pappu’ irrespective of the “makeup”.

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— ANIL VIJ MINISTER HARYANA (@anilvijminister) January 7, 2023

On the third day of its second phase in Haryana, the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed over two hours late on Saturday as Rahul Gandhi had to return from New Delhi, where he had gone to meet his ailing mother Sonia Gandhi.

It was for the second time that the Congress MP could not stay the night in Haryana after the Yatra entered the state for its second phase. He was supposed to stay at Babarpur Mandi on Friday night and at Sanoli Khurd on the Uttar Pradesh border on Thursday night. But he had to go to Delhi to meet his mother on both occasions. It is not clear if he will return to the national capital on Saturday night. Read more

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was not an exercise to project Rahul Gandhi as a prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 general elections.

"This Bharat Jodo Yatra is not to project Rahul Gandhi as a prime ministerial candidate. It is an ideological yatra of which the main face is Rahul Gandhi. It is not one individual's yatra," Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in-charge communications, said.

He asserted that the 'Kanyakumari to Kashmir' foot march, which is currently passing through Karnal in Haryana, is not an election yatra. The senior party leader added that Gandhi has raised three big issues in the Yatra, namely economic inequality, social polarisation and political authoritarianism.  (PTI)

A day after Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be ready by January 1 next year, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday hit out at him, questioning his credentials for making such an announcement. He said Shah’s job was to ensure security of the country but he was instead talking about the temple.

A group of people based in Bareilly have issued a public notice seeking registration as a political party with the name 'Bharat Jodo Party'.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been on a foot-march across states as part of his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and is currently in Haryana.

As per the notice, published in two newspapers last month, the group's president and the vice president are Nasir Ali and Jinat Begum.

The mandatory public notice is part of an elaborate exercise parties have to undertake before they are registered by the Election Commission.

The notice says that the party has submitted an application before the EC for registration as a “political party” under the Representation of the People Act.

The notice was put on the EC website on Friday. (PTI)

The Bharat Jodo Yatra completed its three-day stretch through Uttar Pradesh and entered Haryana in the evening on January 5, with Rahul Gandhi continuing his march on foot surrounded by a huge crowd, starting around 6 am from Aelam village in Shamli district amid heavy fog. Addressing the press later in the day, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the yatra has become a “sanjivani” for the Congress party in the state, giving it a “new life”.

Luna has been patiently watching you pour all your love on her other canine cousins.

So she decided enough is enough - and joined you herself!

You see, no one wants to share your affection :)

We get you Luna!

(Luna, lives with Priyanka Ji - Rahul Ji adores her) pic.twitter.com/6CcpBMKUPt

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 7, 2023

The third day of the second leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Haryana resumed from Karnal’s Gharonda Saturday morning. As per the schedule, the yatra will pass through Gharonda, Madhuban, and will halt for the day at Uchana in the district.

LIVE: #BharatJodoYatra resumes from Kohand village, Gharonda, Haryana. https://t.co/aC9q2KcsM3

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 7, 2023

LIVE: #BharatJodoYatra resumes from Kohand village, Gharonda, Haryana. https://t.co/aC9q2KcsM3

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 7, 2023