Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, her son, Raihan Vadra, and husband, Robert Vadra, on Thursday joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra on the second day of the Madhya Pradesh leg of the party’s biggest public outreach Rahul Gandhi is leading in years from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
The march resumed from Borgaon village on Thursday amid tight security as hundreds of Congress supporters flocked to catch a glimpse of the members of the Vadra-Gandhi family.
Sachin Pilot also joined the foot march amid calls for leadership change in Rajasthan, where polls are due next year. The Congress is left with a small window for any possible change of guard even as a section of the party is opposed to the change close to polls.
An attempt to replace chief minister Ashok Gehlot and to install Pilot as his successor failed in September after the proposed meeting of the legislative group could not be held.
Pilot loyalists expect a decision would be taken before the yatra’s Rajasthan leg begins in the first week of December.
The yatra will cover 380 km in Madhya Pradhesh before entering Congress-ruled Rajasthan. The main yatra will cover six districts. Fifteen “sub yatras” each covering close to 300 km across 52 districts will also be taken out.
The yatra will cover Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa-Nimar region, where Congress performed well in the 2018 polls. The Congress went on to form the government before chief minister Kamal Nath lost power following a rebellion in 2020.