The Congress on Tuesday officially launched the website and tagline for the pan-India ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ scheduled to begin on September 7 from Kanyakumari.
It said that the aim of the yatra is to unite India; to come together and get the country back on its feet.
Veteran leaders Jairam Ramesh and Digvijaya Singh jointly launched the detailed programme of the event.
After being kick-started on September 7, the yatra will pass through 12 states and culminate in Jammu and Kashmir – spanning a distance of nearly 3,500 kilometres in a time period of about 150 days.
Senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, will actively participate in the march. Those who are unable to join physically, will help spread its message by organising events and participating in online campaigns.
People from all walks of life will join it at various points, and march together. It will be a celebration of India’s unity, a festival of hope that will come alive with musical programmes and contests that anyone can participate in.
“This is an open invitation to all to join and walk with us. India belongs to all of us. ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is for all.” the party said.
Economically, the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, the party said, adding that the common people are distressed by sky-rocketing inflation and unemployment.
Kisans and Khet mazdoors are being buried under debt. The assets of our country are being sold to crony capitalists at a huge loss.
“Socially, people are being divided on the basis of caste, religion, region, language, food, dress,” the party alleged, adding that every day, a new conspiracy is hatched to make one Indian fight another. There is a growing sense of insecurity, especially among women.
It said politically, today the voices of people are being suppressed and our Constitutional rights are being crushed. Efforts are being made in a systematic manner to subvert our Constitution, dismantle our institutions, hollow out our democracy, and destroy our unity and fraternity.
State governments elected by the people, are being destabilised by money power and misuse of agencies. “The states are not getting the tax money owed to them by the Union government on time. Dalits, adivasis, backward classes are being deprived of their basic rights-jal, jangal and zameen”.
The Party said to tackle this is to come together, hold hands, and understand the power of unity.
“We must start a movement to get rid of the politics of division and hate, strengthening social harmony along the principles of ‘Unity in Diversity’ and ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhava’,” it said.