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Sonia joins at yatra ahead of change of guard in Congress
Taking part briefly in the party’s longest public campaign, which aims to build and unify the country, Sonia Gandhi was part of the yatra for around for around two hours and walked for about 30 minutes accompanied by Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and hordes of party workers.
In one of her last political programmes before she steps down as the party president this month, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday joined the party’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is in its third leg in Karnataka.
Taking part briefly in the party’s longest public campaign, which aims to build and unify the country, Sonia Gandhi was part of the yatra for around for around two hours and walked for about 30 minutes accompanied by Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and hordes of party workers.
The Congress began on foot the 3,570-km long march--to be covered under 150 days -- from Kanyakumari on September 7with an eye on the 2024 general elections. The yatra has so far covered over 600km across the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.It is further scheduled to cover nine more states before ending in Kashmir.
“Congress President Sonia Gandhi walked with Rahul Gandhi & padayatris between Jakkanahalli & Karadya in Mandya district. Her programme was for only 30 mins. She stayed with Bharat Jodo Yatra for 2 hrs, energised by support of people of Karnataka & in turn strengthening our resolve,” tweeted party’s general secretary for communication Jairam Ramesh.
According to party leaders, the Congress president wished to walk further but was refrained by Rahul over her health condition after recently recovering from two bouts of Covid-19. Earlier in the day, he also tied Sonia’s shoelaces — a moment captured by the party’s social media team in a Twitter post captioned “Ma” (mother).
Tweeting the photo, senior party leader Shashi Tharoor, who is one of the candidates for the upcoming election for the party president, captioned it as saying in Hindi: “There are blessings even when she breathes, no one can replace a mother as mothers are mothers.”
Sonia Gandhi’s stint as the party chief--the longest ever for a Congress president-- ends this month, with the Congress presidential election scheduled to be held on October 17. Sonia has been the Congress president since March 1998.
She will most likely be succeeded by Mallikarjun Kharge or Shashi Tharoor, the two senior party leaders in the fray for the top post. The results of the election will be declared on October 19.
Sonia was earlier scheduled to flag off the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kanyakumari last month, but she went abroad for a health check-up.
On Friday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is expected to join the yatra in Karnataka.
Rahul, who has been spearheading the march since its launch in Kanyakumari, on Thursday tweeted: “We have sailed through storms in the past and today too we will break the limits of all challenges and will together unite India.” He will continue the padyatra for another 15 days before entering Telangana.
“We have weathered many a storm and will overcome all challenges. Together we will unite India,” he said in another tweet with a photograph of him and Sonia Gandhi.
