Journalism of Courage
From stopping for lunch and holding a public rally to making a night halt in Anaj Mandis (grain markets) and villages. The second leg of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Haryana will see him traverse farm belts, which the Congress hopes will strike a chord with the farmers in the state.
Since coming out in support of the farmers’ year-long agitation against the now-repealed three controversial central agriculture laws during 2020-21, the Haryana Congress has been seeking to champion the farmers’ cause aggressively. During the recently-concluded winter session of the Haryana Assembly, the Leader of Opposition from the Congress, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, strongly raised various issues relating to farmers in the House.
On December 28, the last day of the winter session, the Congress legislators, led by Hooda, staged a walkout from the House over their demand for an increase in sugarcane prices for farmers even as Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar formed a panel on fixing prices. Currently, the farmers in Haryana are getting Rs 362 per quintal for sugarcane, while it is Rs 380 for their Punjab counterparts.
For its second leg in Haryana, Rahul’s Yatra will enter the state from UP, making it way from the Sanoli area in Panipat on January 5 evening. Rahul will spend the night in Sanoli Khurd village, which is about 13 kms away from the Panipat district headquarters.
On January 6, the Yatra will resume from the Sanoli-Panipat road bypass at 06:00 am and proceed before taking a break at 10:00 am at GT road (Delhi-Chandigarh national highway), Panipat. Later Rahul will halt for lunch at the new Anaj Mandi in Panipat and will address a public rally at a nearby ground there. Later, he will make a night halt at an Anaj Mandi in Babarpur.
On January 7, Rahul’s Yatra will start at 06:00 am from Kohand village, Gharonda. The Yatra will take a break at 10:00 am near Aparna hospital, Karnal. It will resume at about 15:30 pm and take the evening break at 6:30 pm near NDRI chowk, Karnal. Rahul will halt for the night at Uchana in Karnal’s Indri.
The next day, the march will begin from Shyamgarh in Karnal’s Nilokheri and take a break at 10:00 am in Samana Bahu village. It will leave at 15:30 pm from Jirbhari, Kurukshetra and take the evening break at an old bus stand of Kurukshetra. Rahul will spend the night at Pratapgarh, GT Road.
On January 9, the padyatra will start from Khanpur Kolian village of Kurukshetra and take its morning break at Shahbad. It will resume from Patti Boripur-crossing and take the evening break at Mohra in Ambala’s Mullana. Rahul is scheduled to halt his march for the night at another Anaj Mandi at Ambala Cantonment.
On its last day in Haryana on January 10, the Yatra will resume from Shahpur in Ambala cantonment and take its morning break near Philadelphia Hospital, Ambala. It will take the evening break at Haryana-Punjab border near Toll plaza, Ambala from where it will enter Punjab.
Congress sources say that several farmer union leaders are expected to join the Yatra in Haryana. “Not only farmers, but people from all walks of life are distressed because of the ruling BJP-JJP coalition’s policies. Farmers are in immense distress. First they were made to sit on the roads for almost an year and now they are running from pillar to post seeking their compensation for crop-damage that is due for several months,” Hooda charged. “The sugarcane prices are even lower than what Punjab farmers are getting. This government is taking one step after another to crush the legitimate rights of poor, farmers and labourers.”
In this second Haryana leg, Rahul’s Yatra will pass through nine Assembly constituencies along the Delhi-Chandigarh national highway represented by top BJP leaders including CM Khattar (Karnal) and Home Minister Anil Vij (Ambala Cantonment).
