Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0? Congress Hints At East-to-West ‘Padyatra’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally during the conclusion of Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Srinagar, 30 January 2023.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Congress on Sunday, 26 February, announced that it is considering a pan-India yatra but this time, from east to west, the party’s general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

The announcement comes after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that there was a need to take the ‘tapasya’ of the Bharat Jodo Yatra’ forward.

However, Ramesh said, “The format of the east-to-west yatra may turn out to be different from the south-to-north Bharat Jodo Yatra,” in that, it may not have “such an elaborate infrastructure” and “may have less yatris.”

He added that the yatra may also be of a shorter duration than the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

He also asserted that there was a lot of enthusiasm and energy among Congress party workers after the nearly 4,000-kilometre-long pan-India journey was undertaken by former party chief Rahul Gandhi spanning from Kanyakumari in the south to Kashmir in the north.

Ramesh told news agency PTI that the east-to-west yatra is likely to start from Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh and end in Porbandar in Gujarat, adding, “I also think personally it is needed.”

Yatra Before November?

Ramesh also mentioned that considering there are jungles and rivers on this route, “It would be a multi-modal yatra, but mostly it would be a padayatra.”

On being asked by the media about when the east-to-west yatra will be undertaken, Ramesh said that with Karnataka assembly elections in April this year, the monsoon in June and again state polls in November: “The yatra may have to be undertaken either before June or before November.”

He added that all of this will be finalised in the next few weeks.

Addressing the 85th plenary session of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi had, earlier today, said that the party should formulate a new plan to carry forward the “tapasya” undertaken through the Bharat Jodo Yatra, indicating another such initiative to be taken up by the party.