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‘India is united’: Himanta Biswa Sarma asks Congress to conduct ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Pakistan
The ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ campaign will kickstart today (September 7) from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and terminate in Jammu & Kashmir. It will cover 3,570 km in 12 states and two Union territories, and will last 150 days.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took a swipe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi ahead of the grand old party's ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which is kickstarting today. Sarma said that Gandhi should conduct the campaign in Pakistan, as he highlighted that “India is connected, and united”.
Speaking with news agency ANI on Tuesday, Sarma said that India was divided in 1947 by the Congress party. “If they want to start Bharat Jodo Yatra, then Rahul Gandhi should do this in Pakistan. What are the benefits of doing this Yatra in India? India is connected, and united. I want to suggest Rahul Gandhi to take the Bharat Jodo Yatra programme to Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying.
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The chief minister's dig came only hours after Congress released the title song of the campaign in Hindi, and its tagline as well on Tuesday. The song will be released in respective local languages as and when the Gandhi-led convoy reaches a particular state. The campaign will also be broadcasted live on its dedicated website - bharatjodoyatra.in, party MP Jairam Ramesh said.
He added that the title song of the campaign will be released in Malayalam on September 11, and in Kannada on September 30. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ramesh said the campaign is not going to be any ‘mann ki baat’ but an initiative to take citizens' demands to the central government.
The ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ campaign will kickstart from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and terminate in Jammu & Kashmir, Ramesh said. It will cover a journey of 3,570 km in as many as 12 states and two Union territories, and will last 150 days.
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh said that people could register themselves online for the campaign.
On Tuesday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stated that via the campaign citizens of India will unite on various issues such as unemployment and inflation, among others.
"We are starting a positive politics. We want to hear from you, we want to solve your problems. We want to unite our beloved country. Let's unite India together," Priyanka said in a Facebook video.
As per the programme itinerary shared by the Congress party, Gandhi will first attend a prayer meeting at the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial in Sriperumbudur where his father Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Then, he will start his journey to Kanyakumari where Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin will present him with the Tricolour.
