Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with party leaders Jairam Ramesh, Digvijaya Singh and Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others at an interaction with sportspersons and administrators of Haryana during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Karnal on Saturday, January 7, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on January 8 said the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him has received an overwhelming response everywhere in the country, asserting that the foot march is against hatred and fear being spread in society as well as against unemployment and inflation.
He said the yatra’s purpose is also to let people hear the true voice of the country.
“Bharat Jodo Yatra has received overwhelming response everywhere,” Mr. Gandhi says addressing media in Samana near Kurukshetra.
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Talking about the Kanyakumari to Kashmir foot march, which is currently passing through Haryana, Mr. Gandhi said he got to to learn many things during the course of the journey so far.
“What is in the country’s heart got to hear that directly [interacting with people]. The yatra has received good response in Haryana — it is energetic, enthusiastic response,” he said.
In an attack on the critics of the yatra, Mr. Gandhi said when it was started, “people said the response which we got in Kerala, we won’t get that in Karnataka, which is a BJP-ruled State. But we got an even better response there. Then they said the yatra got a response in south India, but when it reaches Maharashtra, it won’t get that response. When we reached Maharashtra, we got even better response than the south”.
“Then it was said we will not get a good response when the yatra passes through the Hindi belt, but in Madhya Pradesh, there was even more improvement to the response. When we reached Haryana, it was said it is a BJP-ruled State, but here too the response was overwhelming. As we are moving forward, the response is improving,” he said.
Replying to a question, Mr. Gandhi said, “The voice of India which is being suppressed, the fear which is being spread and India which is being divided, one caste being put up against the other, one religion being put up against the other, this yatra is against that.”
There is other purpose of this yatra that we are seeing is that this yatra is like a ” tapasya“, he added.
“We love our country, we love our people, farmers, poor and we want to walk with them. So, yatra’s purpose is also that people of this country get to hear true voice of the country,” the Congress leader said.
He said there is economic inequality in the country and wealth, media and other institutions are being controlled by a few people.
This yatra is against unemployment, inflation, he added.