The final day of the Final Bharat Jodo Yatra
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday marched into Jammu and Kashmir, the ultimate destination of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, which began in Kanyakumari in September and will come to a halt on January 30 in Srinagar. The Yatra went past 12 states and two union territories: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir in 136 days.
During the yatra, the people also have been visiting several important religious and spiritual centers, interacted with and attended performances by various artists, and two Bharat Jodo concerts were also organized.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra came almost to an end on Sunday 29th January, after walking over 4,000 km, by congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the unfurling of the national flag at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk.
As evening approached and temperatures came down, hundreds of people followed the former Congress president. In a conventional handover function, the party flag was handed to a leader from the Jammu and Kashmir unit, by the congress unit of Punjab.
He was given a warm welcome by, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and he compared Rahul Gandhi to the revered Shankaracharya. The MP said at a rally that as Shankaracharya had undertaken a yatra to unify the country many years ago, so did Rahul Gandhi now.
He also mentioned that India is not that of Bharat of Ram or Hindustan of Gandhi as people are segregated based on religion and by getting united only can we conquer the hatred of the present day.
The Bharat Jodo yatra crossed 75 districts of the country, covering nearly 4,080 km of distance, setting off on 7 September from Kanyakumari.
According to congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Rahul Gandhi was presumed to unfurl the Tricolor on 30 January but was not given permission by the administration. He also said that The Yatra was really a Yatra for paying attention to the people of India.
The PDP president said that Rahul Gandhi had unfurled the same flag although under a different situation when Jammu and Kashmir has been converted into a military regiment. BJP has destroyed the assurances given by Indian Constitution which is total disloyalty.
After unfurling the Tricolor, Rahul Gandhi addressing a press conference said that the yatra was a success as it has got a tremendous response in the country. We witnessed the strength and toughness of the people of India. We also came to know about different problems faced by unemployed youth and farmers in the country. He further said that this yatra will have an influence on the polity of India, but right now the impact cannot be gauged.
The very first time the tricolor was unfurled was by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, at Lal Chowk in 1948. At that time, the founder of the National Conference, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, announced his association with Nehru.
The party was supposed to a have public rally attended by opposition parties on Monday. On the day of completion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra Rahul Gandhi opined that nonetheless, opposition parties may have their disparities, but they will always stand united against the RSS and BJP.
This Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi and Congress, has been a historic achievement. It will be remembered by the people of India and the World in the years to come. Rahul Gandhi’s message from this yatra has been that “the purpose of this yatra is to open a shop of love in this market full of hatred.”
