Bharat Jodo Yatra: Timeline till Today and Events that Happened
It was started by the leader of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, who envisions uniting the nation against the alleged discordant attempts of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Bharat Jodo Yatra is a form of protest, or padayatra, against the government of the nation and the policies implemented by it.
The Congress Party, in lieu of this ongoing motion, hopes to bring the country together in opposition to the BJP’s claimed attempts to sow strife. Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress, began his protest march from Kanyakumari, in southern India, on 7th September 2022 and is supposed to complete his travels in Jammu and Kashmir, located in the north, within the span of 150 days.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra officially began on 23rd August 2022, when it received its official website at the Congress Party’s headquarters. The march then began on 7th September at Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, and is scheduled to travel across 12 states and 2 union territories. The 3,570-mile march, which will include many stops along the journey, is planned to culminate in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
Up until this point of its journey, the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Rahul Gandhi Have witnessed many ups and downs on their way from Kanyakumari to New Delhi. The Bharat Jodo Yatra has attracted its share of detractors and haters who reject Rahul Gandhi’s attempts to unify the country through a simple march.
But the supporters have been walking alongside Rahul Gandhi and cheering him on his journey by way of slogans and have welcomed him and his initiative with warm hearts. Many politicians, even of opposition parties, actors, and social activists, are joining Rahul Gandhi in his padayatra and are praising his efforts to speak about the issues that are haunting Indian Society.
Rahul Gandhi has urged people to join him on his protest walk against the issues of unemployment, inflation, and alleged centralization of power in the hands of the BJP government. This protest has seen many events unfold since the day it began, with many civil servants and celebrities coming out to support Rahul Gandhi in Bharat Jodo Yatra, to controversies and even fire from the opposition.
Tamil Nadu
The march started from the city of Kanyakumari, situated in the southernmost tip of the country, in Tamil Nadu. Before commencing his march, Rahul Gandhi paid his tributes to his father, the former prime minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, to the poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar and Swami Vivekananda. He spent seven days, from 7th September to 13th September, rallying in Kanyakumari to reach his next destination Kollam in Kerala.
Kerala
Rahul Gandhi visited Kollam, a city north of Thiruvananthapuram, on 14th September 2022 and paid tribute to Shri Narayana Guru, a social reformer and spiritual figure. A few Cashew workers he visited in Kollam voiced their complaints with him, and he vowed to resolve them during legislative sessions. The Bharat Jodo Yatra’s first controversy occurred here when three Congress activists asked a local street vendor for a contribution of Rs. 2000, which he eventually gave in exchange for Rs. 500. The workers apparently, damaged his cart, which led to their dismissal from the party.
He continued to visit Alleppey before arriving in Kochi on 22nd September to pay his respects to Mahatma Gandhi. This is where BJP accused Congress to be working with the PFI, and Congress’s solicitation to regulate the Bharat Jodo Yatra to the Kerala High Court was dismissed.
Further, Rahul Gandhi traveled through the cities of Thrissur and Malappuram in Kerala before entering Tamil Nadu once again. He spent around 14 days marching through Kerala, meeting people and addressing their concerns.
Tamil Nadu
He entered the city of Gudalur in Tamil Nadu on 29th September on his way to Karnataka. He took the route through the Nilgiris, which are located between the borders of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, to enter the state of Karnataka.
Karnataka
On 30th September, when Rahul Gandhi arrived in Karnataka, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee welcomed him with large throngs of supporters. The police took action against these supporters due to the enormous crowds and disruption. To this, he also took a dig at the policies of the BJP government regarding the Covid-19 cases in Karnataka.
On 2nd October, Rahul Gandhi paid his tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. He took a break after reaching the Mandya district of Karnataka on 4th October. On 6th October, when Bharat Jodo Yatra reached its 30-day milestone, Rahul Gandhi was joined by Sonia Gandhi and the late famous journalist Gauri Lankesh’s family. Rahul Gandhi went on to march through the Tumakuru and Chitradurga Districts, where he received immense public support on 11th October.
Numerous unemployed youngsters approached Rahul Gandhi in the Chitradurga area to discuss their concerns. He traveled through Karnataka for about 15 days, pausing to converse with individuals and hear about their problems. Rahul Gandhi addressed their concerns before continuing his march into the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh
Rahul Gandhi reached the Anantapur district of Karnataka on 14th October and again witnessed huge crowds of supporters who welcomed and joined him on his march.
Karnataka
After entering Andhra Pradesh, the march once again entered the Bellary District of Karnataka and completed 1000 Kilometres before joining Andhra Pradesh once again. In Ballari, Rahul Gandhi addressed a crowd of people in a public Rally as a part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Andhra Pradesh
The march entered the Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh on 18th October, after which it again entered Karnataka on 21st October.
Telangana
From Karnataka, the march entered Telangana on 23rd October, where it took a 3-day break on the occasion of Diwali. Rahul Gandhi Resumed the March on 27th October, which witnessed a massive crowd of people coming out in support of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and joining the march.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra went through several districts of Telangana, addressing people’s concerns along the way. The Mahabubnagar, Nayanpreet, Sangareddy, and Rangareddy districts saw many supporters coming out and walking alongside Rahul Gandhi. On 29th October, the famous Tollywood actress joined the Yatra to Mahabubnagar, and on 1st November, the Bharat Jodo Yatra was joined by Rohith Vemula’s Mother to Hyderabad.
In Hyderabad, Rahul Gandhi waved the national flag in front of the Charminar and was later joined by Bollywood actress Pooja Bhatt in Hyderabad on 2nd November. After traveling through the various districts, the Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Menuru Village in Telangana, where it entered Maharashtra.
Maharashtra
The Bharat Jodo Yatra found its way to the Nanded District, on 7th November, in Maharashtra. Many celebrities joined in on Rahul Gandhi’s march in Maharashtra. The Bharat Jodo Yatra saw the famous faces of actors Sushant Singh, Riya Sen, Reshami Desai, Akanksha Puri, Nagma, Swara Bhaskar, Mona Ambegaokar, and Amol Palekar. Many politicians and social activists, like Aditiya Thakerey, Medha Patkar, and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Tushar Gandhi, also made an appearance during the march.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra traveled through Nanded, Hingoli, Akola, Buldhana, and Jalgaon Jamod districts in Maharashtra before making its way to Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh
Rahul Gandhi was joined by his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and his brother-in-law, Robert Vadra, upon entering Madhya Pradesh on 24th November. He was joined by Digvijaya Singh, the former Chief Minister of the state. Upon reaching the Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh, he addressed the general public and met with the banana plantation and power loom workers of the region and addressed their issues.,
Rajasthan
The Bharat Jodo Yatra reached its next destination, Rajasthan, on 4th December, where he was welcomed with open arms by the people of the Chanwli district in the traditional Rajasthani style. Rahul Gandhi and the President of the Madhya Pradesh Congress, Kamal Nath, celebrated together with the tribals. Actress Digangana Suryavanshi joined the yatra on 11th December from the Bundi District of Rajasthan.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Sawai Madhopur district in Rajashtan on 13th December and continued to move forward. Raghuram Rajan, the former RBI Chief, joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra on 14th December while it was in Sawai Madhopur District.
After this, on 16th December, the Bharat Jodo Yatra finally completed 100 days while traveling through the Dausa District of Jaipur in Rajasthan. Rahul Gandhi celebrated the 100-day milestone alongside Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Mukesh Agnihotri, the Deputy Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, and Pratibha Singh, the Congress Chief of Rajasthan. On 16th December, Sunidhi Chauhan performed at the Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur on the occasion of the 100-day completion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
In these 100 days, the Bharat Jodo Yatra covered the expanse of 8 states- from Tamil Nadu to Rajasthan- touring Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra along the way.
After the celebration, the Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed its journey to Alwar, where Rahul Gandhi addressed the general population in a public rally and talked about the importance of the English medium school initiative of the congress party while taking a dig at the leaders of the Bharatiya Janta Party and their reluctance of teaching the English language at schools while the children of its leaders attend English medium schools.
In Alwar, Former Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, walked alongside Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra on 20th December. Rahul Gandhi journeyed through the various districts of Rajasthan, conversing with the public time and time again, lending them an ear and addressing their issues. Finally, the Bharat Jodo Yatra reached its next destination on 21st December 2022.
Haryana
The Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Nuh District, through the Mundaka border between Punjab and Haryana, in Haryana on 21st December 2022. There was a flag handover ceremony that took place in the Patan Udaipur region of the Nuh district and further resumed its journey through the state of Haryana. DMK Member of Parliament, Kanimozhi, joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra on 23rd December 2022.
Delhi
The Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the capital of the country, New Delhi, on 24th December 2022, through the Badarpur border that lies between Delhi and Haryana. Famous and veteran actor Kamal Hassan, who is also the president of the political party Makkal Needhi Maiam, joined Rahul Gandhi on his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi. Rahul Gandhi addressed the nation, through a nationwide address, from the grounds of Lal Quila. Kamal Hassan also joined him in his national address to the public and demonstrated his support for Rahul Gandhi and his praiseworthy initiative to join the country as one through the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul Gandhi, during his speech, mentioned that he witnessed nothing but harmony among the people wherever he went and their will to work together and live in perfect peace.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra is currently on a 9-day break, from 25th December 2022 to 3rd January 2023.
Moving Forward
As of now, the Bharat Jodo Yatra has completed a 108-day cycle and has covered 46 districts in 9 states. The Bharat Jodo Yatra has covered about 2,800 kilometers and has to travel another 448 kilometers to reach its final destination, Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. The Bharat Jodo Yatra will resume its journey on 4th January 2023 and continue its path to the following three states from Delhi.
Rahul Gandhi’s initiative of the Bharat Jodo Yatra saw many people coming together in its support and standing in solidarity with the vision and the purpose behind this initiative; to bring the country together. The Bharat Jodo Initiative has had its share of controversies and non-supporters speaking out against the initiative and this attempt made by Rahul Gandhi. Many non-supporters have deemed it a waste of time and that it will serve no purpose.
But the support that the Bharat Jodo Yatra has Received from the people of India is immense, and a lot of people have come out of their homes to walk alongside Rahul Gandhi and support his idea of standing in solidarity among people.
