Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will kickstart the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Kanniyakumari on September 7. It will cover over 3,500 km in around 150 days, TNCC president K.S. Alagiri said in Chennai on Friday.
The party has been holding deliberations over the past few days to prepare for the event, and lakhs of people are expected to participate in the rally on September 7.
Mr. Alagiri said Mr. Gandhi will arrive in Chennai in the morning on September 7 and visit his late father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial at Sriperumbudur before leaving for Kanniyakumari to launch the yatra.
Chief Ministers from the Congress, Working Committee members, MPs, MLAs, office-bearers and several leaders will attend the launch of the initiative.
The yatra will be carried out to oppose the “divisive politics” of the BJP and the RSS, and to draw people’s attention to the “fascist BJP regime”, Mr. Alagiri said.
Dinesh Gundu Rao, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu, said the yatra was something the country required to throw out the “fascist regime”. “They are working on the principle of one man to rule the country, one language, one party....We are seeing violence everywhere. Even the Kashmiri pandits want to leave Kashmir. What used to be a peaceful State after years of hard work has once again become violent. It is due to the BJP’s policies and actions,” he said.
Mr. Rao alleged that anyone who opposed the BJP was being targeted, labelled ‘anti-national’ and attacked. “But if you are with the BJP, you can be a criminal, a corrupt person and it will all be white-washed. The BJP has become a washing machine and the country’s future is at stake,” he said.
Mr. Rao said he hoped Tamil Nadu will provide the launchpad to send a message across the country that the “fascist regime” should be thrown out.
