The Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi entered its 11th day from Kerala’s Haripad with hundreds of party workers and leaders accompanying joining in.
The yatra that is scheduled to reach neighbouring Karnataka later this month has already stirred a row in the state that is going to polls soon. KPCC president DK Shivakumar, without taking names, said – “leaders who don’t work hard will not be given tickets for next assembly elections.” The comments instantly triggered an in-party fight with Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao hitting back at DK Shivakumar. “DK Shivakumar is no one to decide anything of that sort. There are various top leaders and committees to decide on ticket distribution,” Gundu Rao said.
The yatra on Sunday began shortly after 6.30 AM and senior leaders including Ramesh Chennithala, K Muraleedharan, Kodikunnil Suresh, K C Venugopal and Leader of Opposition, V D Satheesan were among the top leaders who were spotted walking beside Rahul Gandhi in the 13 km-long first leg of the march on Day 11.
Like several other instances, Gandhi was seen breaking security cordon in between to meet people waiting on both sides of the road. After walking for over one hour, he took a break to have tea at a local hotel along the route. The Congress party said the morning session of the yatra will conclude once it reaches Ottappana and the members will rest at Karuvatta nearby, reports PTI.
According to the schedule, the yatra will resume at 5 PM from Purakkad which is 6.5 km away from Karuvatta and Gandhi along with other members will be travelling that distance by vehicle. The evening session is scheduled to end at 7 PM near T D Medical College Hospital, Vandanam.
On Day 11, the yatra is expected to cover 7.5 km in the evening leg. The yatra members will be halting at Carmel College of Engineering and Technology, Punnapra, which is 3.4 km away. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted that Gandhi will be meeting the farmers of Kuttanad during the morning break.
The Congress party’s 3,570 km and 150-day long foot march started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7 and will conclude in Jammu and Kashmir. The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which entered Kerala on September 10 evening, would traverse through the state covering 450 km, touching seven districts over a period of 19 days before entering Karnataka on October 1.
With inputs from News18, PTI