Bharat Jodo Yatra to conclude on January 30 in Srinagar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra will arrive in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district on January 20 and conclude in Srinagar on January 30, senior party leader Rajni Patil said on Tuesday, January 3. Rajni, who is Rajya Sabha MP and J-K party in-charge, said the Congress is focused on making the Yatra successful.

Rajni, accompanied by J-K Congress president Vikar Rasool Wani, AICC joint secretary Manoj Yadav, coordinator of Bharat Jodo Yatra in J-K GA Mir and party senior leader Tariq Hamid Karra, visited Lakhanpur to review the measures being undertaken for the Yatra. "Rahul will arrive here on January 20 and will conclude his journey on January 30, " Patil told reporters in Kathua. She said the team had come to finalise the venue and review arrangements for the Yatra.Rajni said that Bharat Jodo Yatra was initiated by the Congress to bring together the entire nation and to strengthen it. "The yatra stands as a turning point in the history of India and is the biggest mass conduct programme after independence. Everyone is excited and spirited to be a part of it," she said. She said the Yatra is aimed to bring the people on the ground to raise their voices against issues that cause division in the country.

Meanwhile, the Yatra resumed from Delhi on Tuesday after a year-end break and entered Uttar Pradesh. The yatra had taken a nine-day break on December 24. The second leg of the journey began from the national capital's Kashmiri gate area and passed through the busy streets of Delhi. The police had made elaborate arrangements amid heavy deployment of force after the Congress alleged lapses in Rahul Gandhi's security when it entered the national capital on December 24.

Among those who joined the yatra in Delhi included AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, party MP Pramod Tiwari, Delhi Congress chief Anil Kumar Chaudhary and other Congress leaders like Ambika Soni and Abhishek Dutt. Former Congress member and present Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also joined Rahul Gandhi.

Party's Uttar Pradesh Congress chief and former MP Brijlal Khabri and CLP leader in Uttar Pradesh Aradhna Mishra were among those present at the Loni border. Later, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah also joined at Ghaziabad.