Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra resumes journey on second day of Uttar Pradesh leg

Anshu Awasthi, spokesperson for the party's Uttar Pradesh unit, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached Mavikalan from Delhi prior to the yatra's resumption.

Baghpat: The Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed its journey at 6 am on Wednesday after halting for the night at Mavikalan here.

Anshu Awasthi, spokesperson for the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached Mavikalan from Delhi prior to the yatra’s resumption.

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Rahul Gandhi was again seen wearing the white T-shirt that he has sported for much of the journey. Senior Congress leaders, including former Union minister Jairam Ramesh and the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit chief Brijlal Khabri, were also present.

Scores of people carrying the Tricolor joined the yatra as it made its way through.

The yatra entered Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday via Ghaziabad’s Loni border after a nine-day break. It will travel though Uttar Pradesh for two days and will enter Haryana’s Panipat by Thursday evening via Baghpat and Shamli.

The march left from Delhi’s Kashmiri Gate on Tuesday morning. Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had returned to Delhi after walking seven kilometers on entering Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress’ West Uttar Pradesh unit chief Naseemuddin Siddiqui had told PTI that continuing the yatra from the Loni border, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi took a seven-kilometre walk before returning to Delhi.

While he did not give a clear answer about the reason behind their sudden withdrawal, Siddiqui had said that the siblings would resume the yatra from Baghpat according to schedule on Wednesday morning.

The Congress’ Baghpat district unit chief Yunus Chowdhary said the yatra started from Mavikalan village and would reach the Gufa temple, where it will take a brief halt, in the afternoon. The yatra will then enter Baraut town via Sarurpurkalan village.

Chaudhary said Rahul Gandhi would address the Nukkad Sabha at Chhaprauli Chungi in Baraut before the yatra left for Shamli district.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, will end with the hoisting of the national flag by Rahul Gandhi in Srinagar on January 30.

The yatra has so far covered 3,122 km from Gandhi Mandapam in Kanyakumari to the Red Fort in Delhi.

Over the 108 days, the Yatra has covered 49 districts in nine states and one Union Territory — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi.