New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh leg of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has been revised and reduced due to the ongoing UP Board exams. UPCC chief Ajay Rai said that the yatra would now enter UP on February 16 instead of February 14, and leave on February 22/23 instead of the earlier plan of February 27/28. The yatra will not cover western UP and will instead go to Bundelkhand. A revised plan will be announced soon, but it will stick to its main itinerary from Chandauli to Lucknow.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The yatra will start from Chandauli and then go to Varanasi and pass through Bhadohi, Prayagraj and Pratapgarh before reaching Amethi. The next stops are Rae Bareli and Lucknow.


According to the plan, the yatra will visit Amethi and Rae Bareli on February 19. However, instead of going to Sitapur from Lucknow, it will now move to Kanpur and then to Jhansi from where it will enter Madhya Pradesh. There may be some additions between Kanpur and Jhansi.


Rai said that the changes were made due to logistical issues. He said that the places where the workers and organisers were supposed to stay are mostly private schools or colleges which will now be used for the board exams.


The omission of western UP from Rahul’s itinerary is important as it comes after RLD broke away from INDIA bloc. The Congress has a very weak presence in western UP and the party does not have any influential leader in the region. A senior leader said that they do not want to give an impression that Rahul’s presence in a certain area did not help them win seats.