New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra is scheduled to begin its Uttar Pradesh leg from January 3, for which the party has invited several politicians. The grand old party had also invited former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dinesh Sharma, who on Tuesday (December 27, 2022) rejected the offer. Sharma, as per reports, was invited to the Yatra in his capacity as a professor of Lucknow University. He, however, laughed at the idea of the footmarch entering UP and said that those indulging in "Bharat todo" (breaking the country) are undertaking "Bharat jodo" yatra. He also advised Rahul Gandhi to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to connect the country 


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"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making real efforts to connect India through construction of roads and other developmental efforts," he told news agency PTI as he listed other measures taken by the Centre, which he said were aimed at "connecting the nation."


Two such instances he cited were the Modi-led government's abrogation of article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and construction of roads in the northeast.


Congress is filled with "negativity" and this was clearly reflected in its opposition to annulling of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and its joining hands with the Indian Muslim league in Kerala, Sharma, who served as a deputy CM in the first Yogi Adityanath government, said.


Congress, meanwhile, has also reportedly invited several leaders of non-BJP parties, including SP's Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav, BSP supremo Mayawati and general secretary Satish Mishra, RLD's Jayant Chaudhary, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Omprakash Rajbhar and Communist Party of India secretary Atul Anjan to take part in the Uttar Pradesh leg of the nationwide yatra.


The Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Uttar Pradesh on January 3 through Loni in Ghaziabad. It will then pass through Baghpat and Shamli to enter Haryana.


The Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir yatra, which has so far traversed more than 2,800 km through 10 states, is on a nine-day winter break and will resume on January 3. 


It started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7 and will conclude in Kashmir early next year.