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Will Sharad Pawar join Bharat Jodo foot march in Maharashtra? What he said
Sharad Pawar said he got an invitation from state Congress leaders - Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat - to participate in the yatra.
While the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra - led by Rahul Gandhi - has seen many party leaders taking part over the last few weeks, it is set to witness the participation of a key opposition leader when it enters Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar is all set to take part in the grand old party's foot march, which is being undertaken with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Pawar's participation would mark another key moment of opposition show of strength ahead of the next national elections.
Even though the yatra is a Congress's mass contact programme, Sharad Pawar said, "it can be viewed as an attempt to bring harmony to society". The former union minister further said he got an invitation from state Congress leaders - Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat - to participate in the yatra, which will enter Maharashtra on November 7, news agency PTI reported. ''The yatra is a Congress party programme. But through this initiative, an attempt is being made to bring harmony in the society," said the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party. “So some of us from different parties will join the yatra wherever possible when it is in the state," he added.
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In Maharashtra, the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which included the Shiv Sena, the NCP, and Congress, fell apart in June this year after Sena leader Eknath Shinde and more than 30 other legislators rebelled against the party leadership. Shinde was later elected as the chief minister with the support of the BJP.
The Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra, which began on September 7, is scheduled to cover 3,570 km in 150 days and as many as 12 states. It began from Kanyakumari, and will end in Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is leading the yatra, which has so far covered four states: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The yatra arrived in Andhra Pradesh on October 18, where Rahul Gandhi claimed to have received a tremendous response.
(With inputs from PTI)
