On the eve of the entry of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) into Madhya Pradesh after a two-day break on the borders of Maharashtra, state Congress chief Kamal Nath has said that the MP leg will be the most successful of the yatra.
Nath was addressing a press conference at Burhanpur, where the yatra will enter the state at Boderli village at 6.40am on Wednesday. Nath informed that Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will join the yatra on Wednesday evening. Yatra coordinator and ex-chief minister of MP, Digvijaya Singh was also present at the press conference.
This is the first leg of the BJY in Hindi heartland since it got off at southern tip of India at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7. The yatra will pass through Madhya Pradesh for 12 days and cover about 399 kms passing six districts mainly of Malwa and Nimad region—considered the stronghold of ruling BJP.
Among the major events of the yatra’s passage through the state are the proposed visits of Rahul Gandhi and his public meetings at Badoda Ahir village of Khandwa – the birth place of tribal hero Tantya Bhil, Mahakal temple at Ujjain, Indore city that is considered commercial capital of the state and the Goddess Bagulamukhi temple at Nalkheda of Agar-Malwa district – the last district of MP that the yatra will touch.
Total 17 tertiary yatras were conducted in Madhya Pradesh during the run up to entry of the main yatra into the state and each of these tertiary yatras touched about four to five districts of the state.
Nath said that the BJY was a yatra being taken out by a political leader to connect the society. “There is huge enthusiasm among people as Rahul Gandhi is taking out this yatra to conserve India’s Constitution, democracy, culture and its people. Every day of the yatra in Madhya Pradesh will be a new day due to high excitement in people. People from all walks of society are joining the yatra and in the state every day will be dedicated to a particular community.”
Each day of yatra to honour a section of society
The days have been categorized as ‘balidani samman yatra’ in honour of martyrs, ‘annadata samman yatra’ in honour of farmers, ‘shram shakti samman yatra’ in honour of working class, ‘divyang samman yatra’ in honour of specially abled people, ‘varishtha jan samman yatra’ in honour of senior citizens, ‘prabuddha jan samman yatra’ in honour of intellectual section, ‘vyapar jagat samman yatra’ in honour of traders/industrialists, ‘naari samman yatra’ in honour of women, ‘jai jawan yatra’ in honour of defense personnel, ‘khiladi samman yatra’ in honour of sportsperson, ‘kala samman yatra’ in honour of artists, ‘sarvadharma sarva samaj samman yatra’ to honour religious and communal harmony and ‘corona shraddhanjali yatra’ to pay tributes to those killed during COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21, Nath said.
“I haven’t seen such enthusiasm for any programme during my political career that I am seeing for the Bharat Jodo Yatra. I want to congratulate Rahul ji for selecting the way of rigour (tapasya) of 3,750 kms. I am certain that the BJY leg of Madhya Pradesh will be its most successful one,” Nath said.