Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, along with Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule, is likely to welcome the Bharat Jodo Yatra when it is enters Maharashtra’s Nanded on November 9, Congress sources said on Monday.
If things work out as per plans, then Mr. Pawar will be the second top Opposition leader after DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to be associated with the Congress padayatra led by MP and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.
Sources claimed that in the past one month, leaders of Congress allies like the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) participated in the padayatra in Kerala. Some leaders and workers of the Janata Dal (Secular) also participated in the yatra in Karnataka.
“Mr. Pawar and his MP daughter Supriya Sule have expressed their desire to welcome the yatra when it enters Maharashtra. So they may welcome when it enters the State on November 9,” said the source cited above.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, launched in Kanniyakumari on September 7, has completed over 850 km. It will culminate in Kashmir after covering 3,570 km.
According to the source, about 40-odd ‘Bharat Yatris’, including Mr. Gandhi, are also Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates who are eligible to vote in the Congress president’s election on October 17. Special arrangements are being made for them to vote at the yatra’s camp site and the yatra is likely to take a break that day.
To ensure neutrality of the poll, said the source, presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge didn’t join the yatra despite being from Karnataka.
Before that, on October 15, the Congress will hold a rally in Ballari district of Karnataka, a State that goes to the polls in the first half of 2023.
The yatra will enter Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh on October 18 and will be in the State till October 21 before it re-enters Karnataka’s Raichur.
On October 24 and 25, the padayatra will take a two-day Deepavali break and resume its journey on October 26 when it will enter Telangana.
Sources said that Mr. Gandhi was daily meeting six groups representing groups such as fisherfolk, women organisations, ex-servicemen, teachers’ association, MNREGA workers, COVID affected family, disabled rights activists and transgender groups.
Several smaller Bharat Jodo Yatras are also being organised in States where the main yatra is not passing through. A sub-yatra is being held in Jharkhand from Monday, in Odisha from October 31, in Assam from November 1 and in West Bengal from December, among other States.
