Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, September 8
Amid a massive political churn and emergence of new blocks in the Opposition camp, the Congress today launched a massive exercise to regain primacy as the principal challenger to the ruling BJP.
With 119 leaders in tow, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi commenced a 3,500-km “Bharat Jodo Yatra” from Kanyakumari, aiming to transform his image and that of the party. Rahul met citizens’ delegations along the way accepting representations and promising people to become their voice on the national stage.
The march commenced in the shadow of fresh opposition outreach by JDU leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar who met several non-BJP stalwarts in the Capital, including NCP’s Sharad Pawar, AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury to INLD’s Om Prakash Chautala. Kumar earlier met Rahul also.
The Congress asserted that the yatra would reveal its aggressive side. AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared images of a buoyant Rahul meeting people along the way as he walked across Kanyakumari. “Rahul had engaging conversation with a cross-section of people. He met children at Jawahar Bal Manch, followed by women activists, Dalit groups and environmentalists. He will be interacting with people from all walks of life during the yatra,” Jairam said, a day after party president Sonia Gandhi exuded confidence that the exercise would rejuvenate the party.