Bharat Jodo Yatra finds enthusiastic support in Delhi

Thousands of participants walked to Red Fort in support of Bharat Jodo Yatra in New Delhi (Photo: Mohsina Malik)

Continuing his attacks on current dispensation led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Bharatiya Janata Party government and its parent far-right organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for spreading communal hatred in the country instead of working to resolve the problems of unemployment, inequality and inflation that the country has been facing since Modi took over eight years ago.

“The BJP government has been spreading Hindu-Muslim hatred to divert attention from people being crippled economically,’’ Gandhi told thousands who had gathered at the Red Fort in Delhi on Saturday evening as the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the national capital on Day 108. The Yatra had reached Delhi after starting off from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, covering over 2900 km while traversing nine states, to reach Delhi.

Gandhi said that the Modi government was not for the people or of the people, but was only meant for his rich businessmen friends, who actually governed from behind the scenes. ‘‘This is not PM Modi’s government, but Ambani and Adani’s government,” Gandhi said.

He also took on the television news channels for parroting the government’s agenda, instead of being the watchdogs that media is meant to be. ‘‘The news channels are controlled by the government that wants to spread hatred and hence 24 hours a day hatred between Hindus and Muslims is being aired on the news channels,” Gandhi said.

The Yatra had entered the national capital earlier in the day from Badarpur border in south Delhi and traversed the capital to reach the Red Fort in the evening. Actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan also joined the Yatra in the afternoon.

Hassan later addressed the gathering at Red Fort to explain why he had joined Congress led Bharat Jodo Yatra. “Many people asked me why I am here. I am here as an Indian. My father was a Congressman. I had various ideologies and started my own political party but when it comes to the country, all political party lines have to blur. I blurred that line and came here,” Hassan told the audience.

“I stood in front of the mirror and said to myself – this is the time when the country needs me the most. Then a voice came from inside Kamal… don’t help break India, help unite India,’’ he added.

Though the yatra attracted large crowds not everyone was convinced about the impact of the yatra in reviving Congress’ future prospects. “Just because people are gathering in large numbers to watch or join the Yatra doesn’t mean Congress will get votes. By hosting Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi is only trying to build his good image among the people across the country,” Amisha Raina, 59-year-old from Delhi tells Media India Group.

Rakesh Mishra, a 65-year-old retired government official from Pune who was a bystander near Anangpal Tomar Circle is another sceptic about the impact of the Yatra. “For a party that has fared poorly in the recent MCD elections, what does a grand show like this mean? This is not going to change anything and we the people of Delhi stand with Arvind Kejriwal,” Mishra says.

After the rally at Red Fort, Gandhi offered homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. The yatra, the biggest mobilisation exercise undertaken by the Congress in decades, hit a nine-day year-end pause and will resume from Delhi on January 3, 2023. It will then cover parts of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir before culminating at Srinagar on January 26, 2023.