The Congress party’s current torchbearer Rahul Gandhi has expressed his desire to take the so-called tapasya of Bharat Jodo yatra forward as Gandhi and party workers plan on carrying out another march from Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh) in the east to Porbandar (Gujarat) in the west.
The party is banking on the successful culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra which concluded in January this year. During the yatra, party workers covered the south-to-north stretch traveling a distance of roughly 4,000 kilometers from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in its journey.
Party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said, “There is a lot of enthusiasm and energy. I also think personally it is needed but the format of the east-to-west yatra may turn out to be different from the format of the south-to-north Bharat Jodo Yatra.” As the planning for Bharat Yatra 2.0 is underway, it is estimated that the proposed yatra will see fewer participants owing to elaborate infrastructure requirements. The yatra may also see a multi-modal format instead of being exclusively a padyatra because of the presence of thick jungles and rivers en route along with other logistic challenges.
The timing for the newfound hobby of the Congress party is yet to be finalized. The schedule for the march will be based on many factors such as upcoming state polls and rainy weather amongst others. With Karnataka heading for the polls in April, and Rajasthan along with Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh going for assembly elections in November besides monsoon starting in June, the yatra is likely to be organized before June or before November but will surely conclude before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
