New Delhi: The Bharat Jodo Yatra set its foot in the national capital on Saturday. As Congress MP Rahul Gandhi leads the Yatra that is being held in defiance of Covid protocols announced by the central government, the Gandhi family (Priyanka Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Robert Vadra) joined him in Delhi.
Rahul Gandhi and her sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the Jairam Ashram at Ashram Chowk in Delhi. The Congress MP is also slated to visit former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's memorial Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in the latter part of the day.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi urged fellow countrymen to spread love in the country, unlike the BJP which, he alleged, spreads fear and hatred. The BJP's policies are to spread fear and convert it into hatred, he said, however, Congress will not allow that to happen.
"They (BJP) spread hatred, we spread love, we embrace all Indians. Like us, every Indian should open a small shop to spread love in the country," Rahul Gandhi said addressing a large gathering at the Delhi border. "There is Hindustan and 'Mohabbat' (love) in this Bharat Jodo yatra, which does not see any caste, creed, religion, rich or poor and all embrace each other," he said.
"RSS/BJP's all policies are to spread fear. They want that everyone should have fear in them and they convert this 'dar' into 'nafrat' (fear into hatred). If there is no 'dar' (meaning fear), it will not be converted into 'nafrat' (meaning hatred). We say 'daro mat' (meaning don't fear). We spread Mohabbat. We embrace all Indians," he said.
"As I had said a few days ago that in this market of hatred, we will open up a shop to spread love in society, every Indian should open a small shop to spread love. You would have seen there is no hatred in this yatra," he also said, alleging that only a handful of people are spreading this hatred but the majority of Indians talk of uniting people.
"I have walked from Kanyakumari and I can say there is only love and no hatred across the country, it is the media which is showing it...," he said. A large number of workers from Delhi Congress-led by Delhi unit chief Anil Chaudhary welcomed Gandhi and the Yatris at the Delhi border in Badarpur. The yatra entered Delhi from the Faridabad side in Haryana.
The road from Badarpur to Ashram was decked up with tricolours, balloons and banners of Rahul Gandhi as the Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Delhi early Saturday morning. Scores of people from Haryana and Delhi joined the Yatra at the Badarpur border and raised Bharat Jodo (unite India) and Rahul Gandhi Zindabad slogans. With the beating of drums and playing patriotic songs, the enthusiasm of the Congress Yatris was at its peak.
Party workers had lined up along the route and showered flower petals on the Yatris. Security from Badarpur to Ashram was beefed up, with barricades erected and teams of police personnel deployed at multiple points. Senior party leaders, including former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Randeep Surjewala, Shaktisinh Gohil and others accompanied Rahul Gandhi as part of the Yatra. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and her husband Robert Vadra joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi.
The traffic police had issued an advisory on Friday cautioning commuters about the routes that were likely to be affected by the yatra. The yatra will make its morning halt in the national capital at Ashram chowk at 11 am and will resume at 1 PM. Traffic snarls are expected in parts of central Delhi later in the day when the yatra heads towards the Red Fort via the Mathura road, India Gate and ITO.
The advisory had said the yatra will reach Jai Dev Ashram near Ashram Chowk around 10.30 am and will end at the Red Fort around 4.30 pm. A large number of pedestrians and vehicles are expected to join the yatra at various points along the route, it had said.
The Yatra will take a nine-day year-end break and will again resume on January 3 from Delhi. The Yatra which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7 has traversed nine states so far and is set to culminate in Jammu and Kashmir by the end of January. The Yatra is on its 108th day and has covered around 3,000 kms in 46 districts across nine states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telengana, Andra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. (With Agency inputs)
