The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Mumbai is being held to highlight the “anyay kaal [era of injustice]” of the last 10 years of the Narendra Modi-led government, the Congress said on Saturday ahead of the yatra’s formal launch.
Addressing a press conference at Manipur’s capital, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said that the biggest challenge before the country is that it is facing an ideology that believes in polarisation, economic inequalities, and political authoritarianism.
Mr. Ramesh insisted that the yatra is not electoral, but is rather aimed at protecting and preserving Constitutional values. “The Prime Minister shows the golden dreams of ‘amrit kaal’ but what is the reality of the last 10 years — ‘anyay kaal’. No mention of ‘anyay kaal’ is made while big boasts of ‘amrit kaal’ are projected,” he said.
Former Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, State party chief Keisham Meghachandra Singh, and Congress Working Committee member Gaikhangam were also present at the press conference.
‘Ideological yatra’
“The yatra is being taken out keeping in mind the political, economic, and social injustices committed in the last 10 years. This is a yatra by a political party. It is an ideological yatra and not an electoral one,” Mr. Ramesh asserted.
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will cover above 6,500 km and will pass through 100 Lok Sabha constituencies across 15 States. Together, these States account for 355 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The yatra will be flagged off by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge from a private ground in Manipur’s Thoubal district, instead of from Imphal, the party’s first choice. The yatra is slated to end in Mumbai on March 20 after a journey of 67 days; the route will be covered mostly on a customised bus, but includes five to seven km stretches of padayatras or foot marches.
The Congress said that it is taking out the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra as the government did not give it a chance to raise people’s issues in Parliament. The initiative is aimed at re-establishing the principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity enshrined in the Constitution, it said.
