NEW DELHI: Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi will once again go on a Yatra — this time from East to West. The Congress party on Wednesday announced the Nyay Yatra that will start on January 14 in Imphal, Manipur, and is expected to conclude on March 20 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Rahul Gandhi is expected to interact with youths, women and marginalised people during this Yatra. The Congress party said that the Nyay Yatra will cover 6,200 km traversing through Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and finally Maharashtra. The Yatra will cover 14 states and 85 districts.
On December 21st, the Congress Working Committee gave an opinion that Rahul Gandhi ji should start a yatra from east to west. Rahul Gandhi ji has also agreed to fulfill the wish of the CWC.
So the All India Congress Committee has decided to hold a 'Bharat Nyay Yatra' from… pic.twitter.com/fkaD08PlNz
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 27, 2023
Speaking at a news conference in Delhi, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said, “Bharat Nyay Yatra will start from January 14 to March 20 from Manipur to Mumbai. Now, Rahul Gandhi is doing a yatra with great experience from first ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. He is going to interact with youth, women and marginalised people. Yatra will cover 6,200 km. This time, the Yatra will be carried out by bus with leaders expected to walk certain sections of the route”.
“On December 21, Congress workers gave opinion that Rahul Gandhi should start Yatra from East to West. Rahul Gandhi also agreed to fulfil the wishes of CWC”, Venugopal added.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will flag off the Yatra which will crisscross 14 states and 85 districts. The Yatra comes during a period where the camapigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha election is also expected to pick up. Some of the states through which the Yatra is expected to traverse are currently ruled by parties that form part of the I.N.D.I Alliance and it is to be seen if these parties join the Congress Yatra.
Earlier, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started in Kanyakumari on September 7, 2022, led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, concluded on January 30, 2023, in Srinagar after covering 3,970 km, 12 states, and two Union territories and having lasted more than 130 days.
In the first leg of the yatra, Gandhi had walked almost 4,000 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. The impact of Rahul Gandhi’s yatra was seen during the polls in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, as the Congress recorded a sharp increase in strike rate and vote share. The Yatra travelled 511 km in Karnataka over 22 days between Gundlupet constituency and Raichur Rural constituency. (ANI)