After the successful first edition of Bharat Jodo Yatra last year, the Congress is contemplating the second edition of the yatra. The announcement came from senior Congress leader P Chidambaram during a briefing on the deliberations of the first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee (CWC). It has been reported that some of the CWC members requested the procession to proveed from the eastern part of the country to the west.
"That matter is under consideration," he said in response to a question about organising the second edition of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022
The first edition of the yatra which started from September 7, 2022 and ended on January 30,2023, witnessed a grand success as a host of distinguished personalities took part in the march. According to the Congress leaders, the 136-day march, covering 4,081 kilometres in 12 states and two Union territories, 75 districts and 76 Lok Sabha constituencies, left an indelible impression on people's minds.
Besides, writers and military veterans, including former Army chief Gen (Retd) Deepak Kapoor and ex-Navy chief Admiral (Retd) L Ramdas, and noted people such as former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and ex-finance secretary Arvind Mayaram had also participated in the yatra.
Opposition leaders such as National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, Shiv Sena's Aaditya Thackeray, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Sanjay Raut and NCP's Supriya Sule, had also walked alongside Gandhi at various points in time during the march.
Within the span of those 136 days, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed 12 public meetings, more than 100 street-corner meetings and 13 press conferences. He had over 275 planned walking interactions and more than 100 sitting interactions.
Several experts had said a big takeaway from the yatra for the Congress had been Gandhi's image transformation.
With over 4,000 kilometres under his belt, Gandhi had managed to catch the attention of his supporters as well as detractors.
