"Many senior army former officers including ex-Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, Lt General RK Hooda, Lt General VK Narula, AM PS Bhangu, Major General Satbir Singh Chaudhary, Maj General Dharmender Singh, Colonel Jitender Gill, Colonel Pushpender Singh, Lt General DDS Sandhu, Major General Bishamber Dayal, Colonel Rohit Chaudhry joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Haryana," tweeted Congress MP Manickam Tagore along with the pictures.
General Kapoor served as the Chief of Army Staff Staff from 30 September 2007 and as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee from 31 August 2009.
The total 3,750 km long Bharat Jodo Yatra kicked off from Kanyakumari in September and will conclude in Kashmir later this month. Many noted personalities joined Rahul Gandhi as part of his mass contact program which he claims is against 'hatred' and 'divisive forces' within the country.
The Yatra was joined by people like former Governor of Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan, former RAW Chief AS Dulat, actor-politician Kamal Haasan, and actors like Sushant Singh and Swara Bhaskar, etc.
The year 2023 is very crucial from the electoral perspective as major states will go to polls before the Lok Sabha elections of 2024. Out of these Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh will be watched very carefully.
In Karnataka, the BJP's infighting seems very clear which provides Congress a clear opportunity to strike strongly and connect with leaders on the ground to attract as many votes as possible.
Madhya Pradesh was a state where initially Congress won a majority in 2018 but after the rebellion of Jyotiraditya Scindia, the BJP formed a government and that move is expected to have some political consequences for the BJP and also the Scindia family. The larger question here however is, whether Congress will capitalize on this factor.
Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are two states where currently Congress party is running a government, but the Chief Minister of both states faces a challenger from within the party. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will have to manage Sachin Pilot and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagel has a challenger named TS Singh Deo.
The high command has to see how they can overcome this leadership challenge and achieve something substantial in this election. The elections will also serve as a report card for the massive Bharat Jodo Yatra, which has so far successfully attracted a lot of light.
