Braving biting cold, scores of people joined the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra as it resumed from Adampur in Punjab on Monday.
The march started from the Kala Bakra area in Jalandhar and several Congress leaders, including state party chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, were seen accompanying Gandhi. Gandhi met Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram's sister Swaran Kaur and Kanshi Ram Foundation chairman Lakhbir Singh.
Navjot Kaur Sidhu, the wife of former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, took part in the yatra in Hoshiarpur. She walked along Gandhi during the march. Navjot Singh Sidhu is currently lodged in Patiala central prison serving a one-year jail term in a 1988 road rage death case. Prominent among those who joined the yatra were Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring's wife Amrita Warring and historian S Irfan Habib.
Gandhi also met groups of lawyers, researchers and MNREGA labourers. The yatra entered Hoshiarpur district later in the day as part of its journey in Punjab and will halt for the night at Urmar Tanda. Earlier addressing the media, Congress General Secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his roadshow in Delhi. He said, “it is event management.” It shows that the BJP is feeling jittery,” he said while pointing out “overwhelming” response to the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said the yatra, which was passing through the state, was getting huge response. “Despite biting cold weather conditions, people came out in large numbers to welcome Rahul Gandhi,” he said. He said the yatra will reach Mukerian on Tuesday and will also enter Himachal Pradesh.
On January 19, a rally will be held in Pathankot. After the rally, the yatra will enter Jammu, said Warring. The march, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will conclude in Srinagar by January 30, with Gandhi hoisting the national flag in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
On Saturday, the march was suspended for 24 hours in view of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary death. The MP had suffered a cardiac arrest during the yatra. He was cremated at his native Dhaliwal village in Jalandhar on Sunday. The march had resumed on Sunday afternoon in Jalandhar. The Punjab leg of the march began on Wednesday from Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib. The yatra took a break on Friday in view of Lohri festival.
