Soon after Rahul Gandhi kickstarted the "Bharat Jodo Yatra" in Tamil Nadu's Kanniyakumari, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi said that she will be participating in the event daily in thought and spirit. "I will be participating daily in thought and spirit," she said in a message for all Congress leaders and workers.
Sonia Gandhi's mother passed away recently in Italy. Both she and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are abroad.
"In view of the medical check-ups that I am undergoing, I regret my inability to be with all of you in person this momentous evening to launch the historic Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. This is a landmark occasion for our great party with such a glorious legacy—the Indian National Congress. I am confident that our organization will be rejuvenated, she said.
"It is also a transformational moment in Indian politics. I especially want to congratulate some 120 of our colleagues who will complete the entire padyatra that is about 3600 kilometers long. There will hundreds and thousands of others who will join the yatra in different states and I extend my greetings to them as well. Speaking for myself, I will be participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra daily in thought and spirit. I will, of course, be seeing the Yatra Live as it progresses," the Congress President added.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi along with score of Congress leaders and workers began party's much-hyped "Bharat Jodo Yatra" which will move from Kanniyakumari to Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot and Jammu, before culminating in Srinagar.
According to reports, the campaign will comprise 118 permanent members and will crisscross the country covering over 3,750 km through 12 states and reach its destination in 150 days. The grand old party has termed "Bharat Jodo Yatra" to be the biggest political movement in India since independence.
The party also said that this yatra will be a "new beginning" and a turning point in Indian politics as the Opposition is keen on taking on ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"I lost my father to the politics of hate and division. I will not lose my beloved country to it too," he said in a tweet earlier. "Love will conquer hate. Hope will defeat fear. Together, we will overcome," he said.
With this mega campaign, the Congress is seeking to flag economic disparities, social polarisation and political centralisation, while attempting to make gains in what it often described as battle of ideologies.