Bihar Cong to embark on Bharat Jodo Yatra on Dec 28

The yatra, to be launched from the legendary Mandar Parwat in Banka on December 28, will conclude at Bodh Gaya after covering 1,200km and 17 districts.

PATNA: The Bihar Pradesh Congress Party (BPCC) will embark on an extension of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the state from Banka to Bodh Gaya as a gesture to support the causes of the party’s nationwide campaign undertaken by Rahul Gandhi, said All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Jairam Ramesh in Patna on Sunday.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in Patna on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

The yatra, to be launched from the legendary Mandar Parwat in Banka on December 28, will conclude at Bodh Gaya after covering 1,200km and 17 districts, including Patna. Auxiliary yatras would be taken up by the party workers from 21 uncovered districts and merge with the main yatra at convenient points in due course, Ramesh said.

Ramesh, who is also a consistent partner of the main march being led by Rahul Gandhi, and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh arrived here on Sunday to discuss the route chart and other details of the proposed campaign in Bihar with key party leaders. A similar drive will be launched in West Bengal from Kolkata on December 28, which also happens to be the foundation day of the party.

“Apart from three core issues such as economic disparity, social polarisation, and political autocracy, against which the main Bharat Jodo Yatra is being carried out, demands for special status to Bihar, package to help the state evolve a permanent solution to recurring floods, etc., would be driving the yatra in Bihar,” said Ramesh.

AICC in-charge for Bihar Bhakta Charan Das said that the party has urged chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to join in the campaign at their convenience. “We chose the legendary Mandar Parwat to take out the yatra in Bihar, as it was used as a churning rod for the ocean, to denote that the society still needed to wake up to find the true path amidst illusions,” said Das, adding that senior AICC leaders, including the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, might take part in it.

Taking a dig at Narendra Modi’s south-bound tour, Ramesh alleged that the massive success of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra seems to have unsettled the Prime Minister. “Many people like Yoga guru Ramdev, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, former LS speaker Sumitra Mahajan, etc, have commended Rahul Gandhi for his unique venture,” the AICC leader said.

Clarifying that the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra had nothing to do with winning the elections, Ramesh said that the campaign, which has five permanent companions from Bihar during the march with Rahul Gandhi, would definitely provide a fresh fillip to the organisation across the country. “The main yatra would reach Kashmir after marching through Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab in the next course,” said Ramesh.