The Congress on Wednesday announced that former party president Rahul Gandhi will undertake a ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ from the north-eastern state of Manipur to Mumbai, starting from January 14 next year.
The grand old party, however , categorically said this yatra will be ‘non political ‘ and it will be in line with the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, led by Gandhi from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. The yatra will be flagged off by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Imphal.
The decision of the party comes days after the party’s highest decision making body, Congress Working Committee (CWC) in its meeting unanimously suggested that Gandhi should start a yatra from East to West, to which he agreed upon
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal said, “On December 21, Congress Working Committee unanimously gave an opinion that Rahul Gandhi ji should start a yatra from East to West. Now, Rahul Gandhi has also agreed to fulfil the wishes of CWC. So, the Congress has decided to hold a ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ from January 14 to March 20 from Manipur to Mumbai.”
“Now, Rahul Gandhi will do a yatra with great experience gained from Bharat Jodo Yatra. During this yatra, he is going to interact with the youth of this country, women, marginalised and people from different areas. The yatra will cover a distance of 6,200 kms. It will travel through Manipur, Nagaland,Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, UP, MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.”
Informing that this yatra will cover 85 districts spread across 14 states, Venugopal said, “Basically the mode of yatra is bus.
‘’The Bus yatra allows maximum access to the people on the way. But, it will also have short stretches of walking every now and then.”
He asserted that ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ will also be the most historic one in the country, and added that it will raise issues concerning the public.
This yatra will be flagged off by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at Imphal on
January 14, the Congress leader said.He said the final details of the yatra are being worked out.
In response to a question on Manipur, Venugopal said, “We want to try to heal the wounds which happened in Manipur. This yatra is for love and affection. This is not a political or election yatra.”
Ethnic clashes erupted in Manipur on May 3 and since then, hundreds of people have lost their lives whereas thousands have been forced to take refuge in the relief camps. The state government says that normalcy has been restored in the state.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communication, Jairam Ramesh said, “After Bharat Jodo Yatra, now under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi , the Congress party will take out a Bharat Nyay Yatra. It will be a 6,200- km yatra. It will traverse through 14 states. It will start from Manipur and conclude in Mumbai.”
Noting that during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi raised the issues of “economic disparities, polarization and dictatorship”, he said “this yatra will focus on social, economic and political justice for the people of the country”.