Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will meet people from various sections of society, including the youth, farmers groups, fisherfolk and those belonging to the poor and marginalised strata during his Bharat Jodo Yatra through Kerala to highlight the problems in the country and the BJP-ruled Centre’s alleged anti-people policies, party leaders said here on Thursday.
KPCC working president and state coordinator of the yatra, Kodikunnil Suresh MP said the journey through Kerala will cover 450 kms across seven districts in 19 days.
Suresh said the decision to hold the ‘yatra’, which will cover 3,750 km from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Jammu and Kashmir over a period of 150 days, was taken at the Chintan Shivir held in Udaipur, Rajasthan in May this year.
The objective of the yatra, which will touch 12 states and the national capital, was to strongly oppose the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the RSS agenda for the country.
It was also aimed at uniting all the democratic and secular groups to prevent the ruling dispensation at the Centre from retaining power in 2024, he also said. Giving details of how the ‘yatra’ which will proceed after it reaches the southern state on September 11, the Congress MP said that each day Gandhi and his entourage of around 300 supporters would walk 25 kilometers in two shifts — one from 7 AM to 10 AM and other from 4PM to 7 PM.
“The intervening period would be utilised to meet prominent persons, writers and scholars, the youth, farmers groups, fisherfolk groups as well as those belonging to the poor and marginalised strata of society.
“These interactions would be used to hear the people’s grievances and suggestions and also make them aware of the allegedly disastrous policies of the Centre as well as the non-Congress ruled states,” Suresh said.
He also said that the yatra’s National-level coordinator and veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh along with AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh would be arriving in the state on August 30 in connection with the campaign and any additional directions they give would be incorporated in the arrangements.
Giving details of those who would be accompanying Gandhi on the yatra, Suresh said out of the 300, as many as 100 are those selected by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and they would be with Gandhi throughout his 150-day long journey.
Of the remaining, 100 would be from the state that the yatra is passing through and 100 would be from the states the yatra is not going through, he said adding that the latter group would be joining in rotations. In Kerala, the yatra would enter at Parassala close to the border with Tamil Nadu and would travel 450 km to Nilambur in Malappuram over a 19-day period, he said.
Suresh, accompanied KPCC vice-president V T Balram, also told the media that travel and stay arrangements have been made across the state for the 300 strong core group accompanying Gandhi. Besides that, welcome committees and coordinators from the state to the block level have been selected to ensure the yatra is a huge success in the state, they said.
At the block level, Congress workers have been instructed to go door to door and spread awareness about the yatra and also collect donations for the same, Suresh added. Despite Onam being around the corner, party leaders and workers are keeping aside their celebrations and focusing on making the campaign to unite the country a success, he further said.