THOUBAL: The Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay (*67*) started from violence-hit Manipur on Sunday with Rahul Gandhi asserting that the social gathering will current a brand new imaginative and prescient for India that might be based mostly on concord, brotherhood and equitability and devoid of hatred, violence and monopoly. At a rally right here to flag off the over-6,700-km yatra from Manipur to Mumbai, Gandhi and Congress president Kharge attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Manipur because it reeled below ethnic violence, and vowed to make sure justice for its individuals.
Gandhi stated he needed to undertake the yatra because the nation was going by way of a interval of “great injustice” and harassed the social gathering needs to hearken to individuals’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’. Ahead of the January 22 consecration ceremony on the Ayodhya Ram temple, Kharge stated everybody has religion in God however one mustn’t resort to “dhongbaazi (deception)” for securing votes.
“Wo samandar ke upar sair karte firte hai, aur jap karte baithte hain — Ram Ram Ram Ram (He is seen enjoying the sea, sitting and chanting Ram Ram). ‘Mukh mein Ram, bagal mein churi’, do not do this with the people,” the Congress president stated, referring to the Hindi idiom that cautions in opposition to individuals whose phrases and actions differ.
Hours earlier than the beginning of the yatra with a lot fanfare, senior Congress chief Milind Deora introduced his resignation from the social gathering, within the newest addition to a listing of younger leaders who’ve left it to start new innings in different events. But the Congress downplayed his exit, with normal secretary Jairam Ramesh saying that one Milind Deora goes away however “lakhs of Milinds who believe in our organisation and ideology stay”.
The BJP described the Bharat Jodo Nyay (*67*) as “Bharat Todo Yatra”, and stated the Congress ought to first present justice to the leaders deserting it and to the individuals wronged by its erstwhile governments as a substitute of selling Rahul Gandhi and attempting to take care of the maintain of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Later within the day, Gandhi launched into the journey in a bus after it was unveiled by Kharge with high Congress leaders, together with chief ministers Siddaramaiah, Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, cheering him on.
The bus travelled from right here to Manipur capital Imphal, a distance of about 40 km, with Gandhi interacting with locals who lined up alongside the route.
The yatra flag-off rally was attended in massive numbers by ladies and youth. Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali, who has been suspended by the BSP, additionally attended the rally and joined Gandhi within the bus for the yatra.
Addressing the rally, Kharge alleged that Modi had earlier come to Manipur for votes however when individuals have been in hassle, he didn’t go to. The ethnic violence within the northeastern state, which broke out in May final yr, has claimed greater than 180 lives and rendered 1000’s homeless. With high Congress leaders on the dais, Gandhi defined the explanations for taking out the Bharat Jodo Nyay (*67*) after his Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo (*67*) that ended January final yr.
“Question arises, why Nyay Yatra? Because we are going through a period of great injustice in India — social, economic and political injustice. Injustice against the people of Manipur, the traditions of Manipur, but also injustice across the nation,” he stated. In the economic system, monopolies are being constructed and some individuals are having access to all of the wealth of the nation, he alleged.
“One or two businesses have their fingers in everything and the large majority of businesses — small and medium businesses — are being destroyed. Huge levels of unemployment and massive price rise is what the whole of India is facing,” Gandhi stated. “On the social side, the large mass of India’s people — the lower castes, Dalits and tribals — simply do not have a say in the governance system of the country. I have given you example upon example of how the large mass of our people are excluded from the political system and from the governance system,” he stated.
These are the problems that the Bharat Jodo Nyay (*67*) goes to lift, “but this is less about us and more about you”, he instructed the gathering. Noting that through the Bharat Jodo (*67*), they used to stroll through the day and an interplay within the night, Gandhi stated the thought was to hearken to farmers, labourers, small shopkeepers, ladies and youth. This is the purpose of this yatra (Bharat Jodo Nyay (*67*)) as nicely, he added.
“We do not want to speak much, we do not want to tell you our ‘Mann Ki Baat’. We want to listen to your ‘Mann Ki Baat’, understand your pain,” Gandhi stated. He stated the social gathering goes to current the following imaginative and prescient for India which isn’t of violence, hatred and monopoly, however a imaginative and prescient which is “harmonious, equitable and of brotherhood”. “After listening to your voice, we are going to present that vision to India,” he stated.
Later in a publish in Hindi on X, Gandhi stated, “And from this grassroots dialogue will emerge the vision of building a peaceful, prosperous and powerful India. ‘Vision of India’ which is based on equality, brotherhood and harmony, in which there is no place for hatred, violence and monopoly.” In his remarks on the rally, he additionally slammed the BJP-led central and state governments for the scenario in Manipur.
He alleged that the individuals of Manipur misplaced what’s valuable to them due to the politics and beliefs of the BJP and the “hatred that was spread” by the ruling social gathering and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). “We understand, all of us on the stage understand the pain that the people of Manipur have been through. We understand the hurt, the loss, the sadness that you have been through and we promise you, we commit to you, that we will bring back what you valued. We will bring back the harmony, the peace, the affection that this state has always been known for,” Gandhi asserted.
“I came to Manipur on June 29 (last year) and during that visit, what I saw, what I heard, I had never seen or heard of before. I have been in politics since 2004, for the first time I went to a state in India, where the entire governance infrastructure had collapsed. What we used to call Manipur, after June 29, it was no longer Manipur,” he stated.
Gandhi stated it bought divided, hatred had unfold in each nook, lakhs of individuals suffered losses and other people noticed their brothers, sisters and oldsters die earlier than their eyes. But “till date the Prime Minister of India has not come to Manipur to wipe your tears, hug you, hold your hand… It is a shameful thing”, Gandhi stated. “Perhaps for Narendra Modi ji, for the BJP and the RSS, Manipur is not a part of India at all. Your sorrow is your pain, it is not their sorrow or their pain,” he stated.
The Bharat Jodo Nyay (*67*) will go by way of 100 Lok Sabha constituencies in 15 states and the Congress believes it should show to be as “transformative” as Gandhi’s earlier cross-country march. The yatra will traverse 6,713 km, principally in buses but additionally on foot. It will cowl 110 districts in 67 days, earlier than culminating in Mumbai on March 20 or 21.
