Rahul Yatra Day 32: Youth, jobs in spotlight as march raises pitch against hate politics

The yatra was getting a “huge support” from the youth, Rahul said in a Facebook statement in Hindi that was posted following a six-minute-long street play performed by the Bengaluru-based Hashmi Theatre Group along the march route Sunday morning at Jayachamarajapura near Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru district.

Rahul recorded on his mobile phone parts of the street play that dealt with a range of issues including price rise, communal harmony and Covid deaths in the country. (PTI)

On the 32nd day of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi focused on issues concerning the country’s youth, saying that they want employment and harmony and not hate. He charged that some political parties were trying to “mislead” the youth to spread hatred in society for their divisive politics and that it was imperative to save them from hate politics that, he added, will destroy the future of the country.

The yatra was getting a “huge support” from the youth, Rahul said in a Facebook statement in Hindi that was posted following a six-minute-long street play performed by the Bengaluru-based Hashmi Theatre Group along the march route Sunday morning at Jayachamarajapura near Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru district. Rahul recorded on his mobile phone parts of the street play that dealt with a range of issues including price rise, communal harmony and Covid deaths in the country.

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Rahul’s post carried the picture of the theatre group, stating “These youths are telling us that there is no place for hate in our beloved nation… Some political parties are misleading them, keeping them unemployed and are spreading hatred.”

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The beauty of the journey was in its “unity and integrity”, the former Congress president said. “Our country was like this before and we have to recreate it again,” even as he appealed to the youth to join the yatra to spread the message of peace and harmony and to unite India.

This was the 10th day in Karnataka leg of Rahul’s march, which resumed Sunday morning from KB Cross at Tiptur and culminated at Ankanabhavi village at Chikkanayakanahalli, a distance of about 20 kilometres. The yatra passed through two constituencies represented by BJP ministers — School Education and Literacy Minister BC Nagesh from Tiptur and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy from Chikkanayakanahalli.

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Along a stretch of his yatra, Rahul was accompanied by senior Karnataka Congress leaders, including state party chief D K Shivakumar and ex-chief minister Siddaramaiah, even as he interacted with many people, including women and children.

Karnataka is bound for the Assembly elections in May next year.

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During his march, Rahul also paid his obeisance to Valmiki at Chikkanayakanahalli on the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti.

Rahul was gifted a coconut sapling by a farmer — this cash crop is cultivated widely in Tumakuru district. In the second half of the day’s march, he briefly visited the house of a Covid victim too.

Rahu’s yatra also faced a poster campaign of the local BJP unit, which blamed the previous Siddaramaiah-led Congress government for allegedly shielding the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political outfit SDPI. The posters in Kannada were pasted along the march route on Saturday night.