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Rahul Gandhi should hold 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Pakistan as India is 'united', says Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Congress will launch the 3,570-km "Bharat Jodo Yatra" Wednesday evening. The party is touting it as its biggest mass contact programme since Independence and a "turning point" in India's political history.

Rahul Gandhi should hold 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Pakistan as India is 'united', says Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday (September 6, 2022) took a swipe at Congress' "Bharat Jodo Yatra" and said that its leader Rahul Gandhi should hold this campaign in Pakistan as "India is connected and united". The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader asserted that India was divided in 1947 and there is no benefit to start the "Bharat Jodo Yatra" in India.

"India was divided in 1947 during Congress. If they want to hold the Bharat Jodo Yatra, then Rahul Gandhi should do this in Pakistan," Sarma told news agency ANI.

"What are the benefits of doing this Yatra in India? India is connected, and united. I want to suggest Rahul Gandhi to take the Bharat Jodo Yatra programme to Pakistan," he added.

Congress to begin 3,570-km 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' today

Congress will launch the 3,570-km "Bharat Jodo Yatra" this evening, which the party is touting as its biggest mass contact programme since Independence and a "turning point" in India's political history. 

With the launch of the Yatra on Wednesday at a mega rally here, the Congress is seeking to flag economic disparities, social polarisation and political centralisation, while attempting to make gains in what it often described as a battle of ideologies. Attacking the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre, the Congress has asserted its Yatra is not a "Mann Ki Baat", but to ensure people's concerns reach Delhi.

The Yatra will begin from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and will cover 12 states and two Union Territories in about five months. The Grand Old Party has classified 119 leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, as 'Bharat Yatris' who will walk the entire route. About 30 per cent of 'Bharat Yatris' are women and the average age of Bharat Yatris is said to be 38. About 50,000 citizens have also registered to participate in the Yatra.

After reaching Kerala on September 11, the Yatra will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north. It will then pass through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu, and end in Srinagar.

Ahead of 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', Rahul Gandhi offers floral tributes at his father Rajiv's memorial in Sriperumbudur

Meanwhile, ahead of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday paid floral tributes to his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the latter's memorial in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.

The Wayanad MP, who had arrived here on Tuesday night, began the day by offering floral tributes to the former Prime Minister and sat in silent prayer in his memory.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.

TNCC chief K S Alagiri and other senior leaders accompanied Gandhi.

He is now scheduled to leave for the southern coastal Kanyakumari district and after visiting the twin memorials for the savants: Thiruvalluvar and Swami Vivekananda besides those for Kamaraj and Gandhi Mandapam, he would launch the 3,500 km-long 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin would present Gandhi with the national flag made from 'khadi' to be handed over to Seva Dal workers managing the foot march.

(With agency inputs)