E-Paper
Himachal CM Sukhu joins Rahul on 100th day of Bharat Jodo Yatra
Himachal Pradesh deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri, state Congress chief Pratibha Singh, her son Vikramaditya walk alongside party leader Rahul Gandhi on Rajasthan leg of the march
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri and the state Congress chief Pratibha Singh walked alongside party leader Rahul Gandhi as the Bharat Jodo Yatra completed 100 days on Friday.
Besides Sukhu, Agnihotri and the HPCC chief, newly elected MLAs of Himachal Pradesh, including Pratibha Singh’s son Vikramaditya Singh, and AICC in-charge of the hill state Rajiv Shukla, joined the yatra during the morning session.
Gandhi, along with Venugopal, former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and other senior leaders, began the morning leg of the yatra from the Meena Highcourt in Dausa.
“The Bharat Jodo Yatra’s biggest achievement is that issues of the common people of the country have been highlighted through it,” Venugopal said. “The BJP’s attempt of demolishing his (Gandhi’s) image has also been destroyed by us,” he said.
The Congress general secretary (organisation) said that the message of the yatra will be spread through a follow-up campaign to be undertaken by the party from January 26.
The yatra, which was launched on September 7 in Kanyakumari, has traversed eight states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
With 2,800km under his belt, Gandhi has managed to catch the attention of his supporters and detractors.
Controversies have also been part and parcel of the yatra, with the Congress and the BJP trading barbs on several occasions.
The yatra will enter Delhi on December 24, and after a break of eight days, move to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and finally, Jammu and Kashmir.
It has seen participation from a cross-section of society, including film and TV celebrities such as Pooja Bhatt, Riya Sen, Sushant Singh, Swara Bhaskar, Rashami Desai, Akanksha Puri and Amol Palekar.
Besides participation from celebrities, writers, military veterans, including former navy chief admiral L Ramdas, opposition leaders such as Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray and the NCP’s Supriya Sule, and former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, joined the march at various points.
