Bharat Jodo Yatra to enter Delhi tomorrow

FARIDABAD: The Rahul Gandhi led Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Faridabad on the last day of its Haryana leg in the first phase and will reach Delhi on Saturday.

The yatra resumed on Friday morning from Kherli Lala in Sohna in Gurugram before entering Faridabad.

Addressing a press conference here along with senior leaders Jairam Ramesh and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AICC in-charge for Haryana affairs Shaktisinh Gohil said the route plan for the yatra’s entry into Delhi on Saturday has been finalised.

The yatra, which will halt for the night in Faridabad, will enter Delhi from the Badarpur border near Badarpur Metro station.

“After passing through near Apollo hospital we will head for Ashram, where we will halt for lunch break. From there we will head to Nizamuddin and then to India Gate Circle–ITO–Delhi Cantt-Darya Ganj and then Red Fort.

“From Red Fort, some yatris and Rahul ji will visit Rajghat and Shanti Sthal by car and pay floral tributes,” said Gohil.

After a short break beginning Saturday night, the yatra will resume from January 3 from Uttar Pradesh, then again head to Haryana in the second phase and then to Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

Gohil said no separate permission has been applied for the yatra in Delhi or any other state through which the foot march has passed.

He said the party gives the route plan to the Central Reserve Police Force for security arrangements.

“We have neither applied for separate permission anywhere nor there is any need as this yatra is of the entire country,” he said.

“We also cooperate with agencies concerned. We hope the administration in Delhi will cooperate and we will also cooperate,” he said.

On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi had said that the government is coming up with “excuses” to stop the yatra after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to him to consider suspending the march if COVID-19 protocols could not be followed.

Braving the morning chill, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and senior leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kumari Selja walked along with Gandhi.

During the day, the yatra will pass through Faridabad district, including Pakhal village, Pali Chowk and will reach Gopal Garden in the evening.

After entering Haryana on Wednesday, Gandhi had targeted the BJP, suggesting that while the Congress gives voice to farmers and labourers, another ideology benefits only a select few.

The former Congress chief had also slammed the ruling party over the issues of inflation and unemployment.

The Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress that started on September 7, has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The first phase of the yatra in Haryana concludes on Friday.

In the second phase, the yatra is scheduled to re-enter Haryana from Uttar Pradesh at Sanoli Khurd in Panipat district on January 6.