Sonia reaches Mysuru, to join Bharat Jodo Yatra on Oct 6

“There are no political meetings between the state leaders and Sonia Gandhi. DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have returned to Bengaluru,” said one of the three people, requesting anonymity.

Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday arrived in Mysuru and is scheduled to stay in Kodagu district as the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra takes a two-day break, officials close to developments said.

Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday arrived in Mysuru for Bharat Jodo Yatra. (DK Shivakumar Twitter)

Poor weather conditions forced the Congress to book rooms at Serai, a luxury resort in Kabini, three people directly aware of the developments told HT.

The rooms were originally booked by Siddaramaiah for himself but he returned to Bengaluru, offering up his accommodation for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi who will remain at the resort until October 6 when the Yatra resumes in Mandya, the people said.

“There are no political meetings between the state leaders and Sonia Gandhi. DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have returned to Bengaluru,” said one of the three people, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi will take part in the Yatra the next day, according to the Karnataka Congress.

It will be the first time all three Gandhis will be present in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and has travelled from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and will cover 511 kilometres of the area in 21 days.

Rahul Gandhi on Monday visited the famous Suttur Matt, a pilgrim centre in Mysore, under the banner of the party’s mass contact campaign Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, who reached Karnataka on September 30, visited the centuries-old Matt and sought the blessings of Seer Sri Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji on the fourth day of his visit to the state.

“Shri Rahul Gandhi visited Suttur Mutt in Mysore and sought blessings of Seer Sri Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji”, the Congress Party tweeted.

Meanwhile, Lahar Singh Siroya, the Rajya Sabha MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shot off ten questions over the Yatra, demanding to know if there were “Naxals and Maoist sympathisers” in the march.

“Can they confirm that Naxals/Maoists and their sympathisers are not part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s Kamataka leg? Were these people involved in the planning of the yatra?” he questioned.

“Can they confirm if some Congressmen have helped Naxals/Maoists to collect large sums of money to build and run media outlets in recent years? Will they agree to a probe into the money sources of these people?” he added.

The Congress hit back, stating that it was the responsibility of the BJP to gather intelligence and not that of the opposition.

“Our Rajya Sabha MP has asked questions hoping it will be “star question” in RS. May I suggest that he direct these questions to HM Sri @AmitShah Ji who is in charge of the “intelligence” wing or is he suggesting that HM is incompetent & doesn’t have a clue what the Naxals are up to?” Priyank Kharge, Congress legislator and the party’s chairman for communications, said in a post on Twitter.