Rahul Gandhi begins Bharat Nyay Yatra

After the five-month south to east Bharat Jodo Yatra, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will embark on a 65-day ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ from the violence-hit Manipur’s Imphal to Mumbai from January 14 ahead of Lok Sabha elections highlighting issues related to economic, social and political justice.

Rahul’s second yatra – this time from east to west – will cover 6,200 km in 85 districts of 14 states and in a hybrid format.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar was a walkathon which covered 14 states and union territories between September 7 last year and January 30 this year.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will flag off the yatra in Manipur on January 14. The yatra will end on March 20.

Announcing the new programme, which focuses on highlighting the plight of people due to unemployment and price rise, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said the yatra is aimed at interacting with the youth, women and marginalised sections.

It will cover Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. While Rahul will be travelling mainly by bus, he said, there will be short stretches of ‘padayatras’ too.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the ‘yatra for justice’ is aimed at securing economic, social and political justice while raising the issue of saving democracy and Constitution as well as price and unemployment among other livelihood issues. He said Rahul had raised the issues of economic disparities, polarisation and dictatorship during Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Ramesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been silent on Manipur for over seven months and beginning the yatra from Manipur is a reflection of Congress’ concerns and anguish how the BJP has destroyed the state. “The Bharat Nyay Yatra will begin the process of rebuilding Manipur,” he said.

The decision on the yatra came following demand for Rahul to undertake a second yatra on the lines of the “successful” Bharat Jodo Yatra at the recently held Congress Working Committee. However, a few leaders expressed concern over diverting attention at a time the country is in election mode.

Venugopal said one should not worry about Congress’ election arrangements as the yatra will not negatively impact the poll preparation of the party. He said a mechanism has been put in place for election management.