Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra- Focus in UP on areas that Rahul Gandhi’s first rally did not cover

Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: Focus in UP on areas that Rahul Gandhi’s first rally did not cover

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ is expected to enter Uttar Pradesh in the third or fourth week of February, a party functionary said on Thursday.

The 6,713 kilometre east-to-west Yatra, led by senior party MP Rahul Gandhi, will crisscross through 15 states, 110 districts, 100 Lok Sabha seats and 337 Assembly segments by bus rides as well as foot march. Initially, it was decided that the party would cover 6,200 km in 14 states, but northeastern state Arunachal Pradesh was added to the route.

Speaking to Financial Express Online, KK Shastri, National Coordinator of the Congress’ social media, said that the Nyay yatra will enter Uttar Pradesh in mid-February.

“The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is going to be in Uttar Pradesh for 11 days. It will cover a 1,074 km distance in the state and will cover Varanasi, Prayagraj, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Lucknow, Bareilly, Aligarh, Agra, and it will then enter Rajasthan,” he said.

He said that although the date of the yatra’s entry to Uttar Pradesh is yet to be finalised, it is likely to enter the state in the third or fourth week of February.

Explaining, why the Yatra is going to spend most of the time in Uttar Pradesh, Shastri said that the focus, this time, is on the areas which the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ had not covered the last time.

This time the yatra’s route for the state has been made in such a way that most parts of the state will be covered, he said.

“When the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will travel through Bareilly, the Rohilkhand region is covered, when it will pass through Varanasi and Prayagraj, eastern Uttar Pradesh will be covered, while when it will passes through Lucknow, Rae Bareli and Amethi the Central UP region is covered, and Western UP will be covered, when the yatra passes Aligarh and Agra,” he said.

Shastri also said that the exact itinerary of the Yatra’s time in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is yet to be finalised.

In Varanasi, it is likely that Rahul Gandhi could hold public events, and certainly also do “pad yatra”, he said.

“The exact itinerary of the Yatra in Varanasi is yet to be finalised because all of it is fixed when the Yatra enters a state. When such a huge rally is organised, it involves multiple things, including legal formalities as well as permission from the administration. For instance, in Manipur, the state administration didn’t permit to start the yatra from the district (Imphal East) it intended to flag off.”

The Yatra will now start from a private ground in Manipur’s Thoubal district. It was originally planned to begin from the Hatta Kangjeibung ground in Imphal East district, however, the BJP-led Manipur government on Wednesday (January 10) declined to give permission for the venue, citing the prevailing law and order situation in the ethnic strife-hit state.

Manipur state president K Meghachandra Singh called the move a “murder of democracy”.

“It is not only a violation of people’s rights but also the political rights of India, particularly the people of Manipur…The yatra is not a political programme. It is a programme for people. Therefore, with the support of the people of Manipur and India we will carry out the rally as planned,” Singh had said.

Speaking about the difference between the two Yatras, Shastri explained that while the earlier (Bharat Jodo Yatra) was a “pad yatra” (foot march), where Rahul Gandhi spoke about “Mohabbat ki dukaan”, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’s focus is on the social, economic and financial inequalities prevalent in the nation and the focus is on “Nyay” (justice).