New Delhi: The Congress on Monday said though Rahul Gandhi will conclude the Bharat Jodo Yatra by hoisting the Indian tricolor in Srinagar on January 30, its central objective of uniting the people has been achieved. "Rahul Gandhi will hoist the Indian flag in Srinagar on January 30. The Kanyakumari to Kashmir yatra will conclude that day but its central message- to unite the people of India – has already been achieved. The yatra now represents the voice of all the Indians." AICC general secretary organization KC Venugopal said.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress Working President Raman Bhalla also confirmed the same to ETV Bharat. "Rahul Gandhi will hoist the Indian tricolour in Srinagar on January 30." Earlier, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh had said Rahul would hoist the flag around January 26 depending upon the local situation.
Bhalla said the security situation in Srinagar was taken into consideration behind finalising January 30 as the flag hoisting date. "January 30 is important as it is the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi," he said.
According to Venugopal, the unity factor behind the 3,500 km foot march cannot be measured in terms of the distance covered or the number of people who joined the yatra. "The unity factor cannot be measured through how many kilometers covered or how many lakhs of people joined but by the tears of the people whom Rahul Gandhi hugged," he said.
Soon after the 3500 km nationwide yatra will conclude, the party will conduct the next big “Hath se hath jodo” campaign for two months in order to sustain the momentum generated.
The plenary from Feb 24 to 26
As the grand old party spreads out across the country to restrengthen mass contact, it will also hold the 85th Plenary Session, which will be held at Raipur, Chhattisgarh from February 24-26. Elections to the important Congress Working Committee will be held along with the plenary session, during which the party leaders will debate six major subjects like politics, economy, farmers, security, social harmony, education and youth and come out with resolutions over the same, Venugopal said.
The party is upbeat over the successful election of a new president Mallikarjun Kharge who took charge on October 26, 2022, and will now preside over the plenary. Elections to the CWC was a key promise of Kharge when he sought votes for the top party post.
Apart from that, revamping the party organization to prepare for future challenges is also on the cards and included having half of all office bearers at 50 years of age. The other is to have office bearers at the block and district level. Kharge had dissolved the CWC, which had no elections for the past 20 years, the day he had joined office of party chief and replaced it with a steering committee to discharge regular functions till the plenary.
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The yatra, which has covered 3,122 km so far, involved lakhs of people as it passed through 9 states and a Union Territory, said Venugopal, adding that so far Rahul Gandhi addressed around 95 small corner meetings where he delivered the message of the yatra among the locals."The yatra has been a listening exercise for us. We have listened to the people and understood their problems through a large number of meetings. We have covered 49 districts.
The spirit of the yatra has been achieved through several visits to religious and spiritual centers, interactions and performances by numerous artists and two concerts," he said. "Through these mass contact efforts, the yatra has become a significant milestone in the Congress party’s rich tradition of representing the voice of all Indians," he said.
Yatra to resume on Jan 3
The Congress leader said the yatra will resume from January 3 when it would enter Uttar Pradesh and complete its last leg through states like Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir despite the security challenge for Rahul Gandhi there and the regular targeting of the leader by the BJP.
"There have been several breaches in the security of Rahul Gandhi. We reported the one in Delhi on December 24 to the Union home minister Amit Shah but he has not even bothered to reply. This is against parliamentary norms. When a national party writes to the home minister he should at least reply or ask his junior to do the needful. But in this case, a DIG of the CRPF against whom we had filed a complaint to the minister, replied," said Venugopal.
The Congress general secretary further said that as far as the BJP is concerned, they had tried hard to defame Rahul Gandhi and derail the yatra over various issues but the party was determined to complete the entire stretch. "We are not afraid of passing through Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir but we just wanted to inform the home minister about the threats to Rahul Gandhi," said Venugopal.
During the remaining stretch, the yatra would be in UP January 3 to 5, re-enter Haryana January 6 and will be there till January 11. It will enter Punjab on January 11 and remain there till January 20. On January 19, the yatra will spend a day in HP and finally reach UT J&K on January 20.
"The nationwide yatra will not end on January 30. We will take its spirit forward through the 'hath se hath jodo' campaign where we will try to reach every doorstep and carry Rahul Gandhi’s message across the country," said Venugopal. According to the Congress general secretary, "the year 2022 had proved to be a successful one for the grand old party which elected a new president and was set to take on the future challenges."
