‘Bharat Jodo Yatra Received a Great Response in the Country’: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, on January 29, when unfurled the national flag at the clock tower of Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

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On the eve of the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the foot march has been one of the "most beautiful and profound experiences of his life." Addressing the press conference on the eve of the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi said, "I got to learn a lot from Bharat Jodo Yatra. I met lakhs of people and talked to them. The Yatra aimed to unite India. We traveled against the hatred and the violence that is being spread. Bharat Jodo Yatra received a great response in the country." Rahul Gandhi said. 

“No one was expecting that we would receive so much response. We saw the resilience and strength of the people of India during this journey. We raised the issues of inflation and unemployment. We also got to hear about the issues being faced by farmers, and unemployed youth in the country. Bharat Jodo Yatra has been one of the most beautiful and profound experiences of my life," Rahul Gandhi further said. 

"I want to thank everyone. The people of the country, CRPF, and police personnel who helped us during the yatra," said the Congress leader. When asked about the impact of the Yatra on Kashmir and national politics, the Wayanad MP said, "This yatra is not ours because in this yatra people of the country traveled more than the party workers and leaders. The yatra has given one alternative vision. The BJP-RSS has given one vision full of hate and our vision ‘nafrat ke bazaar me Mohabbat ka dukaan wala,’ the vision of brotherhood and of respect. India has two visions and it is not just a vision but a way of life. One has the vision to suppress the people and the other one is to unite everyone. The yatra will have an impact on the Indian polity but cannot tell yet what exactly it will be. The yatra has not ended, this is just the beginning." 

He further said that Bharat Jodo Yatra was from South to North but had a national effect. Earlier in the day, Congress leader accompanied by his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, on Sunday unfurled the national flag at the clock tower of Lal Chowk in Srinagar as the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered its final day before concluding on Monday. 

The yatra will proceed to Nehru Park in the Boulevard area of the city and will culminate on Monday. The Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed on Friday morning from the National Highway-44, Banihal Railway station, in the UT’s Ramban district. Security was tightened in the area in the wake of the recent twin blasts on the outskirts of Jammu city on January 22 which rocked a busy locality in Narwal leaving at least nine people injured. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the permission to unfurl the tricolor at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on Sunday was given by the state administration. 

Congress had earlier planned to hoist the national flag at the PCC Office on Monday to mark the end of the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir. 

"Rahul Gandhi was supposed to unfurl the national flag on January 30 at the PCC office, since permission to do so elsewhere was not given. Last evening, the state administration allowed him to do so in Lal Chowk, but under the condition that it should be done today on the 29th at the end of Bharat Jodo Yatra," he tweeted. The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started in Kanyakumari on September 7, will conclude on January 30 in Srinagar after covering 3,970 km, 12 states, and two Union territories. 

(With inputs from ANI)