Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sept. 5 (EMN): As announced earlier by the former Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, the AICC secretary, Ranajit Mukherjee, on Monday iterated that the party will undertake the Bharat Jodo Yatra from September 7.
Addressing a press conference here at Congress Bhavan in the presence of NPCC president, Kewekhape Therie, the AICC secretary said the Yatra will cover 3,500 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in 150 days during which the Congress will interact with lakhs of people across the country.
Mukherjee informed that the Congress on September 4 held a ‘Mehangai Par Halla Bol’ rally in Delhi to highlight the government’s complete failure to rein in price rise and demanded that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, take immediate action to protect citizens’ welfare.
He asserted that with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party is taking the next step to begin a direct dialogue with the people of India on the serious issues confronting the country.
The Congress leader went on to state that in 2014, Modi offered a dream of prosperity to all Indians but instead, he (Modi) delivered a nightmare of price rise, unemployment, social tension and compromised institutions over the past eight years.
“The economy is in tatters. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Common people are badly hurt by relentless price rise and record unemployment. Kisans and Khet mazdoors are buried under debt. The assets of our country built up over the past 70 years are being handed over to Modi’s billionaire crony-capitalist friends,” Mukherjee said.
“Society is divided. We are constantly being divided on the basis of caste, religion, region, language, food, dress. Every day a new conspiracy is hatched to make Indians fight one another. Women feel insecure. The divisions being created can only weaken our unity and help our enemies who have become bolder in recent years,” he added.
He informed that the Yatra will be led by Rahul Gandhi alongwith with 118 volunteers including five from the North-east and the yatra will pass through 12 states and union territories. While crossing different states, thousands of volunteers will join the yatra, he said.
Cutting across political party affiliations, the party has invited all like-minded and other political parties to join the Yatra. For those unable to join physically, the party informed that people can join the Yatra digitally by following its website www.bharatjodoyatra.in, send a missed call to 99 999 80 200, or follow on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Instagram.
Similarly, the Congress units will also be organising yatras in their respective states which, Therie informed, will be held after the AICC president election.