With Rahul Gandhi along with several Congress leaders embarking on a 3,570-km Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, here is a look at some key yatras undertaken in independent India and how they fared in transforming the fortunes of parties and leaders.
1983, Chandra Shekhar’s Bharat Yatra: Nearly four decades ago, former prime minister and then Janata Party leader embarked upon a padyatra from Kanyakumari.
1985 Congress Sandesh Yatra by the then prime minister and Congress president Rajiv Gandhi at the AICC plenary in Mumbai. The All India Congress Seva Dal carried it out across India.
1990 Rath Yatra led by Lal Krishna Advani: The Rath yatra was taken out to give momentum to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The yatra that started in September 1990 was to cover 10,000 km and culminate in Ayodhya on October 30.
1991 Ekta Yatra: This yatra was led by then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi and sought to highlight the BJP’s support to national unity and its opposition to separatist movements. It began in December in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu and covered 14 states. It was seen as a follow-up to Advani’s Rath Yatra to further boost BJP’s electoral fortunes.
More than 1,000 police personnel from the Nilgiris district police, as well as additional strength from districts will be deployed across the Nilgiris on Thursday and Friday as the Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ led by Rahul Gandhi, is expected to reach Gudalur in the Nilgiris on Thursday.
As Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra completed 19 days and 419 kilometres by Monday evening, party leader Rahul Gandhi said the foot march is against injustices like waiving off debts running into billions owed by rich businessmen while farmers or small traders are punished for loan defaults. He also tweeted about it in Hindi, saying: “Today billions of loans of big industrialists are being waived. But, if a farmer or small trader is unable to repay even a small loan, then he is put in jail by calling him a ‘defaulter’. Bharat Jodo Yatra is against every injustice. The country will not accept this ‘two Hindustan’ version of the king.”
“Money does not disappear… It is going into the pockets of five or six of the richest businessmen in the country. We will not accept this unfairness,” he said.
Hollywood actor John Cusack, who had earlier extended support to the farmers’ protest and the protest against Citizenship Amendment Act in India, has now expressed his solidarity with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
John Cusack came out in support of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on Saturday as he took to Twitter and wrote, “Indian parliament member Rahul Gandhi is walking to Kashmir – from Kerala.”
A while later when a Twitter user thanked him for his support to Rahul, John Cusack responded by saying, “Yes – solidarity – to all anti-fascists everywhere!”
Surjitt Sahani
