Tamil Nadu: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has embarked on a 3,570 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to unite the country and erect a front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 2024 General Elections, on Friday said he is trying to become wiser through thi arduous journey and understand himself and the country better. The Congress leader, who is likely to be a contestant in the Party presidential election, held a conference in Tamil Nadu. “I will get some understanding about myself and this beautiful country from Yatra, and in these 2-3 months, I will be wiser,” Rahul Gandhi told the media.


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Talking about their political foes Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gandhi said, “ BJP has taken control of all the institutions of this country and pressurise through them...we're not fighting anymore a political party. It's now between the structure of the Indian state and opposition.”



On being asked if he wants to say anything to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said that he does not have a message for PM Modi and is focusing on his Bharat Jodo Yatra.


Will Rahul Gandhi become Congress President?


On the question about his candidature for the Congress President election, which is scheduled to be held in October this year, Rahul Gandhi told the media, “Whether I become president (of Congress) or not will become clear when the elections for the president post take place...I have very clearly decided what I will do, there is no confusion in my mind.”


Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra


The Bharat Jodo march would cover 12 states and two Union Territories in about five months. The march is moving in two batches from 7 am to 10:30 am and from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm. While the morning session includes fewer participants, the evening session sees mass mobilisation. The participants plan to walk around 22-23 km daily.


About 30 per cent of 'Bharat Yatris' are women. The average age of Bharat Yatris is 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 19 days, reaching Karnataka on October 1. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north.


It will pass through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu, and end in Srinagar.