Bharat Jodo Yatra: 5 Months & 4,000 km Later, Rahul Ends March With Flag Hoisting at Lal Chowk

Congress party’s ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra came to the end of its nearly 5-month long run on Sunday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar. Rahul Gandhi unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk in the city in the presence of sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other party leaders, and marked the end of the foot-march that began on September 7.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra’s J&K leg remained specially significant as it also met roadblocks with the party claiming an alleged security lapse at Banihal. Prominent leaders like PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah joined Gandhi, along with his sister Priyanka in Awantipora and Banihal.

The Kanyakumari to Kashmir yatra started from the southern tip of the country on September 7 and ends on January 30 in Srinagar, some 145 days and nearly 4,000 km later.

The yatra would resume on Sunday morning from Pantha Chowk and will culminate near Nehru Park on Boulevard Road in the city. Sunday will mark the last walking day of the yatra.

The cross-country foot march stayed in the news almost right through, mostly for the barbs between the BJP and the Congress and occasionally for other reasons, including infighting in the opposition party.

Here are some key moments from the Bharat Jodo Yatra:

• Rajasthan Congress Infighting: Not so long before its Rajasthan leg, leaders Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were seen engaged in a war of words. However, they later showed unity that lasted for as long as the foot-march was in Rajasthan.
• Khaki Shorts: During the early days of the yatra, the grand old party, tweeted a picture of khaki shorts, often associated with members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, on fire. This triggered a backlash from the BJP, which accused the Congress of instigating violence.
• Fire-fighting in Kerala: In Kerala, the Ernakulam District Congress Committee, which arranged a massive preparation for welcoming the yatra, resorted to a fire-fighting exercise by immediately suspending the Congress worker responsible for it.
• Rahul Gandhi and Winters: Even as the march entered chilly states like Himachal Pradesh and the national capital, Rahul Gandhi’s classic White t-shirt remained the focus point, with many wondering how is he managing the biting cold weather.
• Rahul Gandhi’s Beard: Not just his t-shirt, but Gandhi’s grey beard was also at the centre of a war of words between BJP and Congress, with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma claiming at a poll rally in Gujarat that the former Congress chief had started looking like the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
• Savarkar Row in Maharashtra: The Maharashtra leg saw fissures surface between the Congress and its ideologically incompatible ally Shiv Sena after Gandhi attacked Savarkar over his mercy petitions to the British.
• Congress Leaders Who Passed Away: Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary died following a cardiac arrest during the Punjab leg. A Congress Seva Dal functionary died after collapsing in Nanded in Maharashtra.
• Security Lapse in J&K: The Bharat Jodo Yatra’s J&K leg remained specially significant as it also met roadblocks with the party claiming an alleged security lapse at Banihal. Prominent leaders like PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah joined Gandhi, along with his sister Priyanka in Awantipora and Banihal.
• Floral Tributes to Pulwama Martyrs: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday paid floral tribute to the martyrs of 2019 Pulwama terror attack at Lethpora. He stopped the Yatra for a while at Lethpora in Pulwama and laid a flower bouquet at the spot where 40 CRPF jawans were killed in the terrorist attack.

(With PTI Inputs)

Read all the Latest Politics News here