Traffic snarls as Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat jodo yatra’ enters Kerala capital

Thiruvananthapuram: Massive traffic jams were witnessed after the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the state capital on Monday.

Kerala leaders of the Congress party, including Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, Dr Shashi Tharoor, are accompanying Rahul Gandhi during his Yatra in the state capital.

The Congress leader commenced his journey on September 8 from Kanyakumari. The padyatra, which was flagged off by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, has also entered into controversies.

At Neyyatinakara in Kerala, Rahul Gandhi skipped the inauguration of Gandhi memorial to honour two late Gandhians of Kerala — Gopinathan Nair and K.E. Mamman. He was to inaugurate the memorial at 4 p.m. on Sunday and even though he walked past it, he skipped the inauguration triggering major criticism.

Kerala Pradesh Congress President K. Sudhakaran apologised to the organisers of the event and promised a separate programme for it.

Reacting to it, Tharoor also said that such actions would erode the credibility.

As per the programme, Gandhi will be meeting the Vizhinjam Agitation leader later in the day.

Notably, local people under the leadership of the Latin Catholic Church are protesting against the Vizhinjam Sea Port constructed by the Adani group.

Sujit Menon, a techie at Technopark Thiruvananthapuram told IANS: “The idea of Bharat Jodo Yatra is good. However, Rahul Gandhi is entering into controversies one after the other. Today’s road block will do the Yatra more harm than good.”

The Congress leader, who is also an MP from Wayanad, is in the state for 19 days as part of the Yatra.