Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo yatra as it entered Delhi on Saturday morning.
New Delhi: Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra along with husband Robert Vadra joined Rahul Gandhi as ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ entered Delhi on Saturday. This comes as the party is facing criticism from the BJP over Covid guidelines in the wake of the global surge in cases.
In his address during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi on Saturday morning, Rahul Gandhi said he was here to open the shop of love in the market of the BJP and the RSS. He said, “Some people are spreading hatred but the common man of the country is now talking about love. In every state, lakhs have joined the yatra. I’ve said to people of RSS-BJP that we’re here to open the shop of love in your ‘bazar’ of hatred.”
“The policies of the BJP and RSS are to spread fear and hatred, we will not allow it. I have opened a shop of love in the hatred market,” he said. A large number of workers from Delhi Congress-led by Delhi unit chief Anil Chaudhary welcomed Gandhi and the Yatris at the Delhi border in Badarpur. The yatra entered Delhi from the Faridabad side in Haryana.
Senior party leaders, including former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Randeep Surjewala, Shaktisinh Gohil and others accompanied Rahul Gandhi as part of the Yatra.
“Remove inflation, unemployment, and hatred. Carrying this voice of India, we have come to the throne of the ‘king’, we have come to Delhi. Come join us in the capital to rise it even higher,” the Congress said in a tweet in Hindi. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh earlier tweeted in Hindi that the Bharat Jodo Yatra on its 108th day is entering Delhi.
“For the last few days, there has been a heightened sense of unease there. But, one remembers Rahul Gandhi who said no power can stop this journey,” he said.
The yatra has entered the national capital as India is on alert of the rise of Covid cases globally and a letter to sent to Rahul Gandhi on abiding by Covid guidelines in the wake of the surge in other countries. Congress has, however, said this was the BJP’s attempt at trying to derail the yatra.
“It is not the job of the government to raise questions but to give answers, make rules and announce protocols. We will follow all the Covid protocols. They should announce wearing masks in airports and in public places. They are only doing politics,” Congress leader Pawan Khera said.
The Yatra will make its morning halt in the national capital at Ashram chowk at 11 am and will resume its journey at 1 PM. After traversing through Mathura road, India Gate and ITO, it will halt near the red fort.
The Yatra will take a nine-day year-end break and will again resume on January 3 from Delhi. The Yatra which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7 has traversed nine states so far and is set to culminate in Jammu and Kashmir by the end of January. The Yatra is on its 108th day and has covered around 3,000 kms in 46 districts across nine states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telengana, Andra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana.
