Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul enters Maha holding ‘mashaal,’ visits gurdwara on Guru Nanak Jayanti

After entering Maharashtra on Monday night holding a “flaming torch” (mashaal), Rahul Gandhi visited a gurdwara in Nanded this morning before resuming his Bharat Jodo Yatra in the western Indian state. With this, his foot march entered its 62nd day.

The Congress MP visited Gurdwara Yaadgari Baba Zoravar Singh ji Fateh Singh ji around midnight on Guru Nanak Jayanti. At the gurdwara, Rahul prayed for harmony and equality, the party tweeted.

The yatra entered Deglur in central Maharashtra’s Nanded district from neighbouring Telangana on Monday night. Top Maharashtra Congress leaders, including the party’s state unit chief Nana Patole, welcomed the yatra in the state at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in Deglur’s Kalamandir.

Incidentally, the “mashaal,” with which Rahul entered the state, is the electoral symbol of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, an ally of the Congress.

“To listen to the state’s pain”

Dear Maharashtra, we’re here to listen.#BharatJodoYatra pic.twitter.com/E9YI4FxMxz

— Bharat Jodo (@bharatjodo) November 8, 2022

Addressing a gathering of party workers on Monday night, Rahul said he would “listen to the voice of the state—and its pain” during his stay in Maharashtra over the next 15 days. Bharat Jodo Yatra will traverse through 15 Assembly and six parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra, covering 382 km across five districts, before entering Madhya Pradesh on November 20.

The yatra will proceed through Nanded district for four days and enter Hingoli district on November 11, Washim on November 15, Akola on November 16, and Buldhana on November 18, according to the schedule. During his stay, Rahul will address two rallies, the first on November 10 in Nanded district and another at Shegaon in Buldhana district on November 18.

Also read: Can Bharat Jodo Yatra revive Telangana Congress? That’s not on Rahul’s agenda

In his speech on Monday night, Rahul said small and medium businesses had suffered due to the Centre’s wrong policies, such as demonetisation and poor implementation of GST. He asserted that no force can stop his 3,570km yatra, which began on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and is scheduled to culminate in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Rahul highlights economic issues

He added that the aim of the yatra was to bind the country and raise a voice against hatred, anger, and violence that is being spread. “Unemployment is on the rise in the country. The backbone of (generating) employment….the small and medium businesses, traders, farmers. That backbone was broken by policies of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi ji like demonetisation and wrong implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST),” he said.

Rahul’s attack on the Centre came on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the demonetisation exercise, in which old 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee banknotes were scrapped.

Also read: Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rohith Vemula’s mother walks with Rahul, extends solidarity

“The reality of India is that the country cannot give employment to its youth, even if it is willing. On one hand, there is unemployment; on the other hand, there is inflation,” he said.

“Prime Minister Modi earlier complained when the price of a cooking gas cylinder reached Rs 400 (under the Congress-led UPA rule). The price of a cooking gas cylinder has gone up to Rs 1,200 now, but he does not say anything,” Rahul pointed out.

Pawar may join if health permits

On Tuesday, Rahul was flanked by senior Maharashtra Congress leaders, including former chief ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan, state party chief Nana Patole, and other leaders like Balasaheb Thorat, Manikrao Thakre, and Naseem Khan. He is scheduled to halt at Godavari Manar Sugar Factory ground in Biloli for the night, said a party functionary.

The Congress was a strong political force in Maharashtra for several decades and was a constituent of the three-party ruling coalition till June this year. The party has invited Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, both allies of the party, to take part in the foot march. Pawar had earlier said he would join the yatra.

Also read: Bharat Jodo Yatra, a success till now; can Cong build on it for 2024 poll?

However, senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan has said Pawar’s participation in the yatra in Maharashtra will depend on his health condition. Talking to reporters in Nanded on Sunday evening, former chief minister Chavan said, “I have come to know that he may join the yatra on November 10, but it will depend on his health condition.”

Pawar (81) was recently hospitalised in Mumbai for fever and other health issues. The NCP chief on Saturday flew to Shirdi from Mumbai with doctors and addressed a party convention briefly in the temple town in Ahmednagar district.

Cong aims at show of unity

Sachin Ahir, a legislator of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction, said former minister Aaditya Thackeray may join the Maharashtra leg of the 150-day yatra.

The state Congress leadership wants to highlight the participation of the NCP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction as a show of unity among the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents against the BJP. The saffron party is part of the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra.

Also read: Bharat Jodo Yatra: Planned and executed to the last-minute detail

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, said necessary measures have been taken for the march in Maharashtra, but took potshots at the Congress. “We have taken all the necessary steps for smooth passage through Maharashtra. It is not a Bharat Jodo Yatra, but Modi Hatao yatra and they will never succeed in their goal,” said the BJP leader.

(With agency inputs)