Rahul to set on ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ in Manipur on Jan 14

New Delhi, December 27

Eager to create a buzz ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Wednesday announced the launch of a “yatra” from East to West led by senior leader Rahul Gandhi next month.

To be taken out from Manipur on January 14 – eight days before the scheduled inauguration of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya – the “Bharat Nyay Yatra (BNY)” would conclude on March 20 after reaching Mumbai. The Lok Sabha elections are expected to take place sometime in April or May.

Congress general secretary (organisation) Venugopal said it had been decided to launch the programme from Manipur as the state has been ravaged by protracted violence and badly needed a “healing touch”. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would flag off the Yatra at Imphal, Venugopal, who was accompanied by Jairam Ramesh, general secretary (communications), said at a press conference here.

The announcement follows the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution passed on December 21, urging Rahul do a “yatra” from east to west modeled on the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) foot march led by Rahul that had started from Kanyakumari and went up to Kashmir covering a total distance of 4,500 km.

While the Congress victory in Karnataka was attributed to BJY that went through the state, the party failed to do well in Hindi heartland states such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the Assembly elections held last month despite both states featuring in the route of BJY.

Venugopal claimed the proposed “nyay yatra” did not have anything to do with politics. The main objective of the programme is to highlight social, political and economic inequality and injustice and formulating mechanism to address these issues, he said.

While the BJY covered 12 states, the Bharat Nyay Yatra would pass through 85 districts spread across 14 states. The states are, Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Moreover, unlike BJY which was a foot march, the BNY would be undertaken on bus. The participants would walk for short patches and interact and mingle with people as much as possible. In the course of the journey from Manipur to Mumbai, Rahul and his associates would cover a total distance of 6,200 km.

Asked whether INDIA parties will also participate in the yatra, Venugopal said the final details of the programme were being worked out.

Cong names communication coordinators for Lok Sabha poll

The Congress on Wednesday named communication coordinators for the Lok Sabha elections. Ajay Upadhyay has been appointed communication coordinator for Haryana. Amrit Gill and Anshul Avijit have been appointed communication coordinators for Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, respectively. Arshpreet Khadial has been appointed communication coordinator for Jammu and Parvez Alam for Kashmir & Ladakh.