Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today resumed his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' with a roadshow in Bihar’s Katihar district. However, his Yatra moved forward without offering floral tribute at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Shaheed Chowk.
The Congress MP was seen sitting on the roof of a sports utility vehicle, which was slowly moving and he waved at enthusiastic crowds that gathered along the road. Locals queued up on both sides of the road and watched the procession.
It is worth mentioning that on January 30, the nation commemorates the 76th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi also paid tributes to the father of the nation at a prayer meeting which was held at the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra campsite in Bihar’s Araria. "On this very day, the ideology of hatred and violence had snatched away our beloved Bapu from the country. And today, that same mindset wants to snatch away his principles and ideals from us as well. But amidst this storm of hatred, we must not let the flame of truth and goodwill extinguish. This will be our true homage to Mahatma Gandhi," Rahul Gandhi had said.
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Congress state president Akhilesh Kumar Singh, Congress Legislative Party leader Dr Shakeel Ahmed Khan, and former MP and Congress National General Secretary Tarique Anwar were also present.
Rahul Gandhi addresses public meeting
During the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the former Congress chief addressed a public meeting at Labha Chowk in Katihar district. Addressing the gathering, he said, "I want to tell the OBC community in Bihar that out of 90 officials, only 3 are OBC. That's why we have spoken about a revolutionary step in this direction. India should now know the true population of OBC Dalits in the country, so we want a caste census in India."
Gandhi launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that Manipur has been engulfed in violence for 9 months, yet Prime Minister Narendra does not have time to visit the state.
Rahul Gandhi once again raised the issue of OBCs and mentioned that if the Congress government is formed, a caste census will be conducted. He said, "The whole country knows that the largest population in India is OBC. After that comes the number of Dalits, Adivasis, and minorities. I want to tell the OBC community that the central government is run by 90 IAS officers who control the central budget. I want to tell the OBC community in Bihar that out of 90 officials, only 3 are OBC, and hence very little money has been allocated for OBCs. That's why we have spoken about a revolutionary step in this direction. India should now know the true population of OBC Dalits in the country, so we want a caste census in India."
Yatra to re-enter Bengal
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is scheduled to re-enter West Bengal from Bihar on Wednesday. The first phase of the yatra in West Bengal concluded on Monday, as it stepped into Bihar from Islampur. It will re-enter West Bengal through Debipur, Ratua in Malda district in the northern part of the state.
After the handover of the flag, the yatra will resume from Ratua stadium and move towards Sujapur, where Gandhi will address people before a night halt. On February 1, it will enter Murshidabad before exiting the state the next day.
Covering 523 km across six West Bengal districts so far, the yatra has traversed Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Uttar Dinajpur, with Malda and Murshidabad slated for the second phase, they said.
Nyay Yatra in Bihar
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, entered Bihar on Monday (January 29) through Kishanganj, a district having a heavy Muslim population and also a stronghold of the party. Rahul Gandhi entered Bihar for the first time since the unsuccessful Assembly poll campaign in 2020 where the party only managed to win 19 seats out of the 70 it contested in. The Yatra reached a day after a massive turnaround took place in state politics as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar left the I.N.D.I.A bloc and rejoined the NDA on Sunday (January 28).
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is scheduled to travel 6,713 km over 67 days, traversing 110 districts across 15 states before concluding in Mumbai on March 20 or 21.
Rahul Gandhi will be leaving for West Bengal on Thursday via Araria district and will return to Bihar a few days later via Jharkhand, said state Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
The leaders of the state Congress, the party’s alliance partners in the state – RJD president Lalu Yadav and CPI(ML)-L general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya – have been invited to the rally at Purnea.
Congress had earlier also extended an invitation to Nitish Kumar who, according to sources, would not have attended the rally. The development was reported before the major shift in Bihar politics took place yesterday.
After a two-day hiatus, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday resumed 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' from Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. Gandhi was received by West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury at the Bagdogra airport in Siliguri in the northern part of the state.
(Input from Niranjan Singh)
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