Congress chief Sonia Gandhi joined her son Rahul Gandhi's ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Mandya at BJP-ruled Karnataka. She is expected to address a rally in Ballary.
Gandhi is participating in a public event after a long gap because of her health. She had gone went abroad for a medical check-up when the Bharat Jodo Yatra started on September 7.
In her absence, Rahul Gandhi flagged off the march from the southern tip of India, in Kanyakumari.
A Congress leader indicated that Sonia Gandhi’s presence would be brief this time, as she has just returned from a medical check-up abroad. In the coming days, she might again join the yatra.
Gandhi landed in Mysuru on Monday and spent two days at a resort in Kodagu district. The yatra had paused for two days so that participants could celebrate Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami (Tuesday and Wednesday).
In the interim, she visited Mahadeshwara and Bheemanakolli temples in HD Kote taluk of Mysuru district and joined the puja celebrations.
This morning, Sonia Gandhi offered prayers at a temple before joining the march. She reached Jakannahalli and joined the foot march that resumed from Pandavapura Taluk at 6.30 am and would end at Nagamangala Taluk by 7 pm. Sonia Gandhi was joined by local women MLAs Anjali Nimbalkar, Roopakala, and Lakshmi Hebbalkar.
A meeting will be held in the Brahmadevarahalli village after the walk. The party leaders and workers will put up at Madake Hosuru Gate, opposite the Government Ayurvedic Hospital in Nagamangala Taluk.
The yatra entered Karnataka on September 30 at Bandipur in Chamarajanagar district. After passing through the Mandya district it will cover Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Ballari and Raichur districts, before entering Telangana.
