Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has embarked on a Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unity March) from Kanyakumari to Kashmir from September 8 has commenced his 19-day Kerala leg from Parassala bordering Tamil Nadu.
The Congress leader reached Parassala on Saturday night and started the journey in the morning. He was accorded a warm welcome with people thronging on both sides of the road to shower petals on him.
Party General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal, who is coordinating the Yatra, and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and party general secretary, Digvijaya Singh were walking along with Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhi will be reaching Thiruvananthapuram city on Monday and will address a public meeting there. The Congress leader is covering around 25 km on foot per day.
Kerala Pradesh Congress committee President K. Sudhakaran, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly and senior Congress leader V.D. Satheeshan, coordinator for the Kerala leg of the Yatra, Kodikkunnil Suresh MP, Thiruvananthapuram District congress president Palode Ravi and senior leader Manacaud Suresh were also present with Rahul Gandhi as he began his Kerala leg padyatra.
No container
Rahul Gandhi was expected to spend the night on Sunday at a school in Thiruvananthapuram along with party leaders and workers.
According to Congress, a camp of containers was to be set up in an agricultural university in Thiruvananthapuram for which permission was also granted. But at the last minute, the student wing of the Kerala CPM and the student wing of the university called a sit-in protest against the Bharat Jodo Yatra camp.
Sources told ANI, Congress wants to keep the Yatra away from controversies, so instead of containers, party leaders including Rahul Gandhi will stay in a school for all Yatris tonight.
The 3,500-km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will be completed in 150 days and cover as many as 12 states.
From Kerala, the Yatra will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north. The Padyatra (march) will cover a distance of 25 km every day.
According to Congress, the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and to awaken the people of the country to the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarisation and political centralisation.
The Yatra includes Padayatras, rallies, and public meetings which will be attended by the senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Notably, all the party MPs, leaders and workers along with Rahul Gandhi are staying. Sleeping beds, toilets and AC are also installed in some of the containers. During the journey, the temperature and environment will differ in many areas. The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.
The march is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles.
Rahul Gandhi halts at roadside eatery
Rahul Gandhi who is leading the march, early this morning halted at a tea shop in Kunnathuvila near Udayankulamgara on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari National Highway.
Gandhi stopped at the shop while he was taking a break. The owner of the shop Stanly was pleasantly surprised to see the Congress leader stepping into his shop.
Stanly said that he had heard of the passing of the foot march through his shop’s route, however, it was beyond his expectation that Gandhi would stop at his shop for snacks.
Narrating the incident, the owner of the shop told ANI, “I was quite surprised when a VIP guest entered my shop and had tea and snacks. I heard that Rahul Gandhi’s yatra was passing through this way. But it was quite unexpected for me that Rahul visited my shop. I was also waiting in the shop watching the padayatra.”
He was happy about the gesture by Gandhi after the Congress leader asked him for a picture while leaving the shop.
“Five minutes before Rahul Gandhi reached here, a man came and told us that Rahul Gandhi would come here to have tea and asked me to clean the table. He entered the shop and his security blocked the road. Rahul Gandhi had tea, snacks, biscuits and banana. He asked for an extra tea. I was alone in the shop. After having tea, he invited me to take photos. I called my wife too,” he said.
He said that he was elated after Gandhi asked to take pictures and said that it was for the first time that a leader had visited his shop.
“He was very happy and took photos with me. This is the first time that a great leader visited my shop. It was unexpected,” he said.
