BJP trying to destabilise RaGa’s Bharat Jodo Yatra: Congress

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Ahead of Rahul Gandhi-led Kanyakumari to Kashmir ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which is scheduled to begin on September 7, AICC general secretary and the party’s chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said the march is not aimed at any upcoming election but it is a response to the economic, social and political challenges faced by the country under the BJP.

Ramesh, who was in the capital with AICC general secretaries Digivijaya Singh and Tariq Anwar to assess preparedness for the yatra, termed the all-India march a ‘mass contact programme’. He accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of working overtime to “destabilise” the yatra. He hinted that there could be a new Congress president amid the yatra if the organisational election process goes as per schedule.

Asked about senior Congress leaders quitting the party, Digvivjaya Singh downplayed it and said these leaders did not leave on ideological grounds. Without naming Ghulam Nabi Azad, Digvijaya asked why the veteran leader had not issued a single statement against BJP, RSS or Modi.

Ramesh said the party does not underestimate the BJP’s “capacity for mischief” under any circumstances. The foisting of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case on the Gandhi family was one such attempt, he said. Digvijaya, the yatra’s chief planner, added that the party was capable to deal with the issue.

He said the yatra, which will begin from Gandhi Mandapam on September 7, will enter Kerala on September 11. “The yatra will be in the state for 18 days and  cover seven districts,” he told reporters.  The 148-day-long yatra will pass through 12 districts and two union territories.

Along with 100 national ‘padayatris’, there will be another 100 ‘adithi padayatris’ joining from states not covered by the yatra. Another batch of 100 ‘pradesh yatris’ will join as the march passes through their respective states.