As the Punjab leg of Bharat Jodo began on Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP is spreading hatred but India is about brotherhood and unity. This yatra is not about speaking but listening, he said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid obeisance at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib on Wednesday morning before beginning the Punjab leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Addressing a rally at Fatehgarh Sahib, the Congress MP continued his tirade against the BJP and said,”BJP is spreading hatred, but India is about brotherhood, unity and respect. That’s why this yatra is successful.”
I have learnt a lot from Bharat Jodo Yatra. I spoke to farmers, shopkeepers, labourers, unemployed youth,” the Wayanad MP said. He sported a turban and wore a half-sleeved T-shirt to the place of worship. Currently, Bharat Jodo Yatra is underway in Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib.
“We thought that this yatra should raise the biggest issues of India – hatred, violence, unemployment and inflation and fight against these issues,” Rahul Gandhi said.
‘YATRA ABOUT LISTENING’
“We don’t give long speeches in this yatra. This yatra is not about speaking but listening. We wake up at 6 am, walk for about 25 km & listen to all of you for 6-7 hours. After that, we keep forth our views for 10-15 minutes. The spirit of this yatra is to listen,” he further said.
Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and other party leaders. On Tuesday, he offered prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar after concluding the Haryana leg of the march in Ambala district.
He reached Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib on Tuesday evening and stayed for the night there. According to the schedule of the Punjab-leg of the yatra, the yatra will pass through Mandi Gobindgarh, Khanna, Sahnewal, Ludhiana, Goraya, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Dasyua and Mukerian.
A rally will be held at Pathankot on January 19 before the yatra enters Jammu and Kashmir.
The yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will conclude in Srinagar by January 30, with Mr Gandhi hoisting the national flag in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
The march has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.