Rahul Gandhi addresses public rally on the finale of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar. (Twitter/ @RahulGandhi)Bharat Jodo Yatra Highlights, January 30: Speaking at a rally to mark the finale of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he was warned that he might be attacked in Kashmir but, “people here did not give me hand grenades but hearts full of love”. He added that BJP members could not walk like this in Jammu and Kashmir because “they are scared”. He also spoke about the pain of losing someone while remembering his father Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, saying that he understood the pain of those who lost their kin in the Pulwama attack. The Wayanad MP accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of “instigating violence” but not understanding the meaning of pain the way it is understood by Kashmiris, the families of armed forces killed on the line of duty, or him.
Amid snowfall in Srinagar, Opposition party leaders joined Rahul Gandhi to mark the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. However, only a handful of leaders attended the Srinagar event, despite Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge having written to heads of 23 political parties, inviting them to join the concluding event. Leaders of DMK, NC, PDP, CPI, RSP and IUML were present for the event. At the event, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Bharat Jodo Yatra was not for winning elections but against hate.”
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra came to a close on Monday with the Wayanad MP unfurling the national flag at the yatra’s campsite at Cheshma Sahi in Srinagar. He ended his over 4,000 km padyatra on Sunday, covering 12 states over a span of five months. In an interview with The Indian Express, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said, “…certainly there will be a second leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. We are yet to decide how it should be carried out. The final design has not come but there will surely be a second leg, in which Rahul Gandhi will be involved.”
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi hoisted the flag at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on Sunday.(Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi )
After covering over 4,000 km across 12 states in a span of five months, Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra reached its end today. Leaders of Opposition parties like DMK, NC, PDP, CPI, RSP and IUML joined the Congress in its celebrations.
Watch Express Photos by Shuaib Masoodi
In the end, there was no clinching of hands showcasing Opposition unity, nor a dramatic show of support. If the Congress had expected a long line of Opposition leaders to turn up at Srinagar to mark the culmination of Rahul Gandhi’s cross-country Bharat Jodo Yatra, it was in for disappointment Monday.
Only a handful of leaders attended the Srinagar event, despite Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge having written to heads of 23 political parties, inviting them to join the concluding event. The Congress’s expectation was that all parties that had been invited would send representatives to the function at Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium. Read more
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of “instigating violence” but not understanding the meaning of pain the way it is understood by Kashmiris, the families of armed forces killed on the line of duty, or him.
“The people of Kashmir will understand it. The CRPF men, the Army men and their families will understand it. I mean to say those who instigate violence like Modi ji, Amit Shah ji, Ajit Doval, and people of RSS, they cannot understand this. They will not understand the pain. What would have gone through the hearts of the children of Pulwama soldiers, I know. It has happened with me,” Gandhi said at the concluding event of the Bharat Jodo Yatra at Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir international cricket stadium amid heavy snowfall. Basharat Masood writes
Veteran Congress leader A K Antony on Monday said Rahul Gandhi undertook the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) to protect the country from the politics of hatred and anger being allegedly fostered by the Narendra Modi government.
Antony, speaking at a programme organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee here to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 75th death anniversary, said "the Modi administration is trying to maintain power by fostering the politics of hatred and anger." Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, undertook the yatra to protect unity, diversity and integrity of the nation and spread the message of love and harmony to everyone irrespective of their religion, caste, creed or colour, Antony, also the former Chief Minister of Kerala, said.
He said that with the conclusion of the yatra the nation not only got to see a new Rahul Gandhi, but it was also the beginning of the second phase to sweep the communal forces from power in a democratic manner. (PTI)
The nature of politics changes with the emergence of new forces in any society. The first consequence of that is people liberate themselves from ideological baggage. The transformation of England’s politics in the mid-1970s is a good example. Both the Labour and Conservative party were compelled to readjust their social philosophy and economic perspective with the leadership of Margret Thatcher. When parties and leaders fail to recognise such shifts, they unconsciously cling to the conventional modes of appeal. That does not cut much ice with people. This is exactly what happened with Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. The 4,000 km-plus journey is replete with ambiguities. Besides the timing of the Yatra, Rahul Gandhi’s statement that he is a “new Rahul Gandhi” needs to be decoded to understand the journey’s objective.
Rahul Gandhi took to the streets after senior Congress leaders, known as the G23, questioned the ability of the Nehru-Gandhi family to restore the party’s lost glory. The Yatra was planned by his brain trust to safeguard the legitimacy of the dynasty and give a message to the scattered opposition parties that the signboard of the Congress still carries some utility. Read the Express Opinion by BJP's Rakesh Sinha
Former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah said on Monday that they see a ray of hope in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Both Mufti and Abdullah had joined Gandhi in his walk during the Jammu and Kashmir leg of the Yatra.
“I welcome Rahul ji and others. Rahul ji said he has come to Kashmir to his home. Rahul ji, this is your home. I hope that whatever has been taken from Jammu and Kashmir and this country, by (Nathuram) Godse's ideology, will be returned by a Gandhi, and not just to J-K, but to the whole country,” Mufti, the chief of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said at the rally to mark the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Echoing Mufti's sentiments, National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah said the Yatra has rekindled the ray of hope in the whole of the country. He also urged the former Congress president to undertake another 'yatra' from west to east of the country and promised to join the march 'to spread the message of peace, brotherhood and love'. (PTI)
One of our greatest thinkers, the largely forgotten polymath Rahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963), imagined yatra and wandering as forms of thinking and forming a world view. In his book Ghummakkad Shashtra (The Wanderer’s Shashtra), published in 1948, Sankrityayan suggests that yatra should lead to a sense that “it is intensely human to help strangers and to consider it one’s duty to offer assistance to those whose language we do not understand”.
Rahul Gandhi may or may not be familiar with Sankrityayan’s writings. However, the recently concluded Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) borrows from a long tradition of writing and thinking about travel as a mode of contemplating the world. That said, something has changed over the years. We are no longer the travellers we once aspired to be. Our aspirations may have become more touristic.
The Yatra sought to revive the meaning of wandering across unfamiliar territories as an act of dialogue across religious, linguistic and cultural differences. It was based, of course, on a utopian vision of the possibilities of co-existence in a phenomenally diverse society. Read the Express Opinion
Quoting Amir Khusro's famous lines praising Kashmir and praising Kashmiris for showering love and harmony during Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Monday shared pictures with senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who led the Bharat Jodo yatra covering over 4,000 km across several Indian states.
Kharge quoted Khusro's saying for Kashmir 'Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast', which means 'If there a heaven on earth, it’s here, it’s here..'
"The message of 'Kashmiriyat' given by Kashmir is a message of harmony, togetherness and brotherhood," Kharge added in his tweet.
A day after daring Union Home Minister Amit Shah to walk from Jammu to Srinagar's Lal Chowk, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that no BJP leader can take a walk on the streets of Kashmir not because the people would not allow them to do so, but because they are scared.
Rahul Gandhi had on Sunday dared Amit Shah and other BJP leaders to take a walk from Jammu to Lal Chowk if the situation is so good in the Union Territory. (ANI)
With 4,084 km covered over 135 days, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has surpassed the distance covered by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy during his padyatra over more than one-and-a-half years, from 2017 to 2019.
The YSRCP leader had walked 3,648 km, and swept to power by an unprecedented majority in the state in the elections that followed. It was till now considered the longest distance covered on foot by a politician in the country.
Jagan Reddy had started his ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’ from his late father Dr Y S Rajashekara Reddy’s native village Idupalapaya in YSR Kadapa district on November 6, 2017, and concluded it at Ichchapuram in Srikakulam district near the Odisha border on January 9, 2019, with breaks in the middle. Read the Political Pulse by Sreenivas Janyala
Leaders of various national and regional parties joined Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar on Monday to mark the formal culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Gandhi hoisted the national flag at the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ camp site in Srinagar where he thanked the ‘Bharat Yatris’ for their love, affection and support through the 136-day foot march, which began in Kanyakumari on September 7 last year.
Post the rally, organised in Srinagar to mark the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi said “the aim of his Bharat Jodo Yatra was to save the liberal and secular ethos of the country which, he claimed, was facing an assault from the BJP and the RSS.” Read more
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were seen playing with snow at the Congress party headquarters in Srinagar on Monday. The Wayanad MP shared a video of his snowball fight with sister at the camp site.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, ends in Srinagar on January 30, and there is no denying that it has led to a powerful reframing of the visual imagery. Rahul Gandhi, the austere and bearded Yatri in a bare white T-shirt, looks very different from the Entitled Dilettante, taking off for holidays abroad in between presiding, officially and unofficially, over a party in unchecked decline.
The Yatra comes to its conclusion at the end of an uncomfortable week for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BBC documentary on his record during Gujarat 2002 and after revealed nothing that wasn’t already in the public domain. The revival of memories of 2002, which never really went away, not least because of the BJP’s own stoking of the scars to its advantage, may also not harm him politically. But the Modi government’s heavy-handed response — from the electricity cut in JNU to bringing out the riot police at Jamia and suspension of 10 students in Central University of Rajasthan in Ajmer — have ranged the mighty Indian government against a campus film-screening. Read the Express Opinion by Vandita Mishra
On the finale of Bharat Jodo Yatra on Monday, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen donning a pheran — a traditional Kashmiri outfit worn by both men and women.
Srinagar witnessed heavy rain and snowfall today, with several flights cancelled for the day.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday narrated a story of four children whom he met during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and said that they were beggers who did not wear sweaters, shivering in winters, which inspired him not to do the same during the yatra.
Gandhi's remarks came while addressing the concluding function of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar, marking the end of the yatra.
"...Four children came to me. They were beggars and had no clothes on...I hugged them...They were cold and shivering. Maybe they didn't have food. I thought that if they're not wearing jackets or sweaters, I too shouldn't wear the same...," Gandhi said. (ANI)
Speaking about the assassination of his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that he understood the pain of violence and what went through the hearts of the kin of Pulwama martyrs. He added that leaders in the BJP, like Modiji and Shah, and members of the RSS don't understand this pain.
Speaking at a public rally in Srinagar on Monday, Rahul Gandhi said, "I did not do the Yatra for myself or Congress, the aim is to stand against an ideology that wants to destroy the foundation of the country."
Speaking at a rally to mark the finale of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he was warned that he might be attacked in Kashmir but, “people here did not give me hand grenades but hearts full of love”.
He added that BJP members could not walk like this in Jammu and Kashmir because “they are scared”.
Speaking at the finale of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, CPI leader D Raja said, "All secular parties must come together to liberate the country from BJP."
At the rally to mark the finale of Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the march was not for winning elections but against hate.
Amid snowfall in Srinagar, Opposition party leaders joined Rahul Gandhi as he marked the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Leaders of DMK, NC, PDP, CPI, RSP and IUML were present for the event, Rahul Gandhi said. Speaking at the event, Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke about the pain of losing someone while remembering his father Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. He was wearing a traditional Kashmiri pheran to mark the occasion.
In the Bharat Jodo Yatra that comes to a formal end on Monday, K C Venugopal played a pivotal role. A close aide of Rahul Gandhi, he walked with him almost the entire length of the march, and was one of the main people organising with the authorities to ensure there were no hitches.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Venugopal said there will be a second leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. We are yet to decide how it should be carried out. The final design has not come but there will surely be a second leg, in which Rahul Gandhi will be involved.
He speaks about what he sees as the gains from the Yatra, and the plans going forward. Read here
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge unfurled the Tricolour at the party headquarters in Srinagar. He was joined by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi.
Most Srinagar-bound flights scheduled for today have been cancelled owing to heavy rain and snowfall in the area. Due to this former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's travel from Delhi to Srinagar to participate in the rally has already been cancelled.
It remains to be seen whether the weather will dampen the celebrations for the Bharat Jodo Yatra finale.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge unfurled the Tricolour at the party headquarters in Srinagar, where a Bharat Jodo Yatra memorial has also been put up. He was joined by Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who had hoisted the national flag at the Yatra's campsite in Cheshma Shahi earlier in the day.
After much amusement and attention over his trademark white t-shirt, Rahul Gandhi appeared in a sleeveless jacket as he unfurled the national flag at the Yatra campsite in Srinagar on Monday.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared an image with Digvijay Singh as the duo bid adieu to their containers, where they had been staying for the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Covered in snow, Ramesh said, "The Do Bechare… residents of Container #12 and #14 saying farewell at the end of #BharatJodoYatra in a snowy Srinagar to their abodes for the last 135 days."
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were seen playing with snow at the Congress party headquarters in Srinagar, which received heavy rain and snowfall on Sunday night.
On the day marking the end of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Monday unfurled the national flag at the Yatra campsite in Srinagar.
Incessant rains and heavy snowfall have thrown normal life out of gear across Jammu and Kashmir, where Congress is set to host a grand finale for its Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The movement of vehicular traffic along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended at some places in Ramban district on Monday morning as heavy boulders fell in view of the Sunday night rainfall.
Meanwhile, Meteorological Department in Srinagar, warned of snow avalanches in avalanche-prone areas, and advised people not to venture out in avalanche-prone areas during the next two days. It said that there will be widespread moderate to heavy snowfall in Kashmir Valley, while the areas of Jammu division will witness moderate rain with thunderstorms at most places on January 30.
Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's travel from Delhi to Srinagar to participate in the rally at the conclusion of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has been suspended due to the cancellation of flights to Srinagar after heavy snowfall.
Earlier too, the Congress had taken out yatras to “revamp the party structure” and rally public support on various issues. After the rout in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul had walked 15 kms at a Kisan Yatra in Maharashtra’s Amravati district to highlight farmers’ concerns.
Other parties too have long relied on yatras as shows of strength or to raise issues, tapping into the appeal attached to such processions in the country. In 2011, the BJP held a 14-day “Ekta Yatra” from Kolkata to Kashmir’s Lal Chowk to unfurl the national flag in the Valley. The "Ekta Yatra” itself was a follow-up of party stalwart Advani’s “Rath Yatra”, which was taken out to demand a Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 1990. Read more
The Congress extended invitations to the presidents of 21 parties, including Trinamool Congress (TMC), Janata Dal (United), Shiv Sena, Telugu Desam Party, National Conference (NC), Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nationalist Congress Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Lok Dal, Indian Union Muslim League, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Janata Dal (Secular).
Some party leaders have expressed their inability to be present at the rally while some would send their representatives.
While parties such as NC, PDP, CPI, CPI(M), Shiv Sena and DMK are likely to have a presence at the rally, there is uncertainty over participation from parties such as SP, BSP and TMC. (PTI)
The curtains will come down on the Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra on Monday with a ceremony at the party headquarters here and a rally at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium where several Opposition leaders are also likely to be present.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will unfurl the national flag at the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters and also unveil a memorial for the Bharat Jodo Yatra. (PTI)
India has a history of long walks and cycle rallies by various political leaders for social, political, and economic transformations. Commentators have likened the Bharat Jodo Yatra to past events and termed it a defining moment of contemporary politics. Indeed, the Yatra demonstrates a significant shift in Rahul Gandhi’s leadership skills and ability to reach out to a cross-section of the masses.
In addition to a popular call to stop hate politics, a substantive programme is required to reduce the prejudice that persists in society. Unless the Yatra offers a suitable roadmap for justice, this grand initiative will fall short of meeting its goal of unifying Indian citizens. Read more
As the Congress gears up for its grand celebration of the end of Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party has said that its president, Mallikarjun Kharge, will hoist the Tricolour at the party headquarters in Srinagar, which is barely a few kilometers away from the Lal Chowk where Rahul Gandhi unfurled the national flag on Sunday.
At first look, it would seem that the recasting of Rahul Gandhi, his wresting greater control over his own lines to inject in them a much-needed humility, comes at a time when Modi looks more of an authoritarian figure, bellowing “off with its head” only for that command to be flouted visibly. And yet, this may not be the whole story.
There is a back story to the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Read more
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ended his over 4,000 km padyatra on Sunday, covering 12 states over a span of five months. On Monday, the Congress party is set for a show of Opposition unity, having extended invitations to 21 political parties for its function in Srinagar. The party said Congress president Mallikarjum Kharge will unfurl the Tricolour at its headquarters.
21 'like-minded' parties were extended an invitation to join the Yatra's culmination. The list, according to sources, does not include the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) led by Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao (popularly known as KCR), and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created such an atmosphere in Kashmir that any Indian can hoist the national flag with pride at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, the BJP said on Sunday and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to thank him for the change in the Valley.
The comments from BJP spokesperson and former Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore came after Gandhi unfurled the tricolour at the historic clock tower of Lal Chowk, popularly known as ‘Ghanta Ghar’, as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which concludes on Monday. Read more
The government must deal with China firmly and make it clear that "we are not going to tolerate them sitting on our land", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on the eve of the culmination of his Bharat Jodo Yatra on Sunday. Gandhi said that the approach that the government was following "by completely denying" that the Chinese have "taken our land" is extremely dangerous as it would give them the confidence to do even "more aggressive things".
Addressing a press conference hours after unfurling the tricolour at Lal Chowk here, the former Congress president, who undertook the 134-day Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, said, "I think the way to deal with these Chinese is to deal with them firmly and to be very clear that they are sitting on our land and it is not something we are going to tolerate." "The Prime Minister of India is the only person in the country who is under the impression that the Chinese have not taken any land from India. I recently met some ex-army people, even a delegation from Ladakh which clearly said that 2000 square kilometres of our Indian territory have been taken over by Chinese," Gandhi said. (PTI)
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, ends in Srinagar on January 30, and there is no denying that it has led to a powerful reframing of the visual imagery. Rahul Gandhi, the austere and bearded Yatri in a bare white T-shirt, looks very different from the Entitled Dilettante, taking off for holidays abroad in between presiding, officially and unofficially, over a party in unchecked decline. Vandita Mishra writes
Speaking at a press conference, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said, 'It has received a great response in the country. We saw the resilience and strength of the people of India during this journey. We also got to hear about the issues being faced by farmers, and unemployed youth in the country'
On the eve of the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that though Opposition parties may have their differences, they will stand united against the RSS-BJP. Addressing a press conference, Gandhi said, “Bharat Jodo Yatra was from South to North but had national effect”
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti Sunday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi unfurled the national flag here under “different circumstances” when Jammu and Kashmir has been turned into a military garrison and assurances given by the Constitution demolished by the BJP. She said former prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru first unfurling the tricolour in Kashmir in 1948 amongst a sea of people was a momentous occasion marked by celebrations.
“Today history stands witness as RG (Rahul Gandhi) unfurled the same flag albeit under completely different circumstances at a time when J and K has been turned into a military garrison. Assurances given by Indian Constitution have been demolished by BJP and is a complete betrayal," Mehbooba said in a series of tweets. (PTI)
A week after the Congress said that hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk is “part of RSS agenda”, party leader Rahul Gandhi, in a sudden change of plan, unfurled the Tricolour at the city centre in Srinagar Sunday. The original plan was to hoist the national flag at the party’s Srinagar office on Monday.
Rahul hoisted the Tricolour here exactly 75 years after his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru did so for the first time at Lal Chowk, where he also promised the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “By hoisting the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, the promise made to India was fulfilled today,” Rahul tweeted. “Hate will lose, love will always win. There will be a new dawn of hope in India”. Read more
After hoisting the Tricolour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk, Rahul Gandhi said Sunday that a promise amde to India was fulfilled today. In a tweet, Gandhi said, "Hate will lose, love will always win There will be a new dawn of hopes in India".
Weeks after the Congress said that Rahul Gandhi would hoist the Tricolour at its state headquarters in Srinagar on January 30 and not the Lal Chowk as unfurling it at the square was part of “the RSS agenda”, the Congress leader on Sunday unfurled the national flag at the square.
“@RahulGandhi was supposed to unfurl national flag on Jan 30th in PCC office since permission to do so elsewhere wasn’t given. Last evening, state administration allowed him to do so in Lal Chowk, but under condition that it should be done today on 29th at end of #BharatJodoYatra,” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh tweeted after Gandhi, accompanied by other party leaders, including his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, hoisted the Tricolour at Lal Chowk. Read more
While the spotlight has firmly been on Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a band of "Bharat Yatris" walking along with him have quietly gone about their job. Clocking kilometre after kilometre, they moved towards their goal of reaching here and several of them say they would be the first ones to sign up for another such foot march.
Initially, there were about 120-odd designated "Bharat Yatris", part of a core group that was supposed to accompany Rahul Gandhi in the foot march, but as the yatra entered Kashmir that number stands at 204, bringing to life the Urdu couplet -- "Main akela hi chala tha janib-e-manzil magar log saath aate gaye aur karwaan banta gaya (I began my journey alone, people joined in and the caravan kept on growing)." The yatra, which was launched on September 7 in Kanyakumari, has traversed 12 states and two Union Territories. It will culminate with the hoisting of the national flag at the Congress office here on January 30. (PTI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with Priyanka Gandhi, unfurled the Tricolour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk Sunday morning. It's the last day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Weeks after the Congress said that Rahul Gandhi would hoist the Tricolour at its state headquarters in Srinagar on January 30 and not the Lal Chowk as unfurling it at the square was part of “the RSS agenda”, the Congress leader on Sunday unfurled the national flag at the square.
“@RahulGandhi was supposed to unfurl national flag on Jan 30th in PCC office since permission to do so elsewhere wasn’t given. Last evening, state administration allowed him to do so in Lal Chowk, but under condition that it should be done today on 29th at end of #BharatJodoYatra,” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh tweeted after Gandhi, accompanied by other party leaders, including his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, hoisted the Tricolour at Lal Chowk. Read more
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted images of Rahul Gandhi unfurling flag at Srinagar's Lal Chowk Sunday and that of Jawaharlal Nehru doing the same in 1948. "75 years ago, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the national flag for the first time at Lal Chowk. Today noon after the completion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir Rahul Gandhi unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar," he said.
Rahul Gandhi's great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, had first unfurled the Tricolour at Lal Chowk in 1948 when the National Conference’s founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah declared his alliance with Nehru.
Lal Chowk or Red Square, Srinagar city’s business nerve centre, has been a witness to Kashmir’s chequered history. The main square of Srinagar city was named Lal Chowk by left-wing activists who were inspired by the Russian revolution. Read here
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with Priyanka Gandhi, unfurled the Tricolour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk Sunday morning. The party had earlier said that he would unfurl the national flag at the party's headquarter and not Lal Chowk.
Speaking about the change of plans, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "Rahul Gandhi was supposed to unfurl national flag on January 30th in PCC office, since permission to do so elsewhere wasn’t given. Last evening, state administration allowed him to do so in Lal Chowk, but under condition that it should be done today on 29th at end of Bharat Jodo Yatra."
As Rahul Gandhi meets people from all walks of life on his Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Jammu and Kashmir he met up with two young kids who showed off their Taekwando skills to the Congress leader.
Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi, hoisted the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, after resuming his march from the city’s Pantha Chowk earlier in the day.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to culminate at the Nehru Park in the Boulevard area of Srinagar today, news agency PTI reported.
Having covered a distance of 4,080 km across 75 districts of the country, starting from Kanyakumari on September 7, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to culminate at the Nehru Park in the Boulevard area of Srinagar on Sunday, news agency PTI reported. On Monday, the party will hold a public rally attended by opposition parties and hoist the flag at the Congress party’s headquarters at Maulana Azad Road.
Since Rahul Gandhi's 3560-km-long Bharat Jodo Yatra is scheduled to end January 30 in Srinagar, it’s time to assess its impact.
Rahul Gandhi has shown incredible stamina, a will to complete what he embarked on, instead of running abroad halfway—which he was known for. The moot question at the end of the Yatra is this: Has Rahul Gandhi only enthused the Congress supporters or has he won over some of those who were on the BJP side? Has he been able to force the fence-sitters to rethink about Modi and the BJP? Read Neerja Chowdhury's column here
According to the schedule put out by the party for Sunday, the Yatra will halt at Sonwar chowk and then proceed to Lal Chowk.