Rahul Gandhi to address Ballari today as Bharat Jodo Yatra completes 1,000 km landmark

D HIREHAL (ANDHRA PRADESH): The Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, will complete the 1,000-kilometre landmark on Saturday morning when it reaches Ballari city, where the party is holding a mega-convention.Though termed a non-political yatra, KPCC president DK Shivakumar had told TNIE, “No one is a saint in politics and Congress will reap rich dividends from this yatra.”

The 3,570-kilometer march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir seems to have patched up differences between Congress leaders and energised the party by drawing big crowds. Many Congress leaders also see the yatra as an attempt to strengthen the party base ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls. Priyank Kharge, party communication wing chairman, told TNIE, “The yatra has come at the right time to fight BJP in the state.”

On the yatra covering 1,00o km, he said, “The distance covered does not matter as this is a mission. Rahul is not interested in the number of kilometres travelled but is concerned about its impact. When the country is at a crossroads, the yatra gives hope to the people of a future without economic inequality, unemployment and corruption by highlighting the problems created by central and state governments. Rahul is not here to create records, but to ensure that India comes back on the path of progress.”

The real achievement is when Rahul stands in Kashmir, completing the mission that it was set out for. That is to protect the idea of India that our forefathers had envisioned, Priyank said.He accepted that Rahul is following the legacy of his grandmother Indira Gandhi. “Nothing wrong in following in her footsteps. His steely resolve might have come from her. During an interaction with civil workers, Rahul told them to be lionesses, otherwise, no one will take note of them and their problems. ‘My grandmother was a lioness and I drew inspiration from her’, Rahul told them.”