Bharat Jodo Yatra Has Succeeded 'Optically', Got Support Of Non-Congress Elements: Kapil Sibal

Sibal, who quit Congress last year, said that the Yatra "optically" seems to have succeeded and has gotten the support of non-Congress elements as well. He said conceptually it is a "wonderful idea".

Former Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Former Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra "is something to be lauded". He said Rahul Gandhi has been able to bring together disparate elements of society and made them realise how important it is to ensure unity in the country.

"I think that he (Rahul), during the course of his march, has been able to bring together disparate elements of society and made them realise how important it is to ensure unity in our country and that respect for diversity is at the heart of our nation moving forward," the former Union minister said, a quoted by news agency PTI.

Sibal, who quit Congress last year, said that the foot march "optically" seems to have succeeded and gotten the support of non-Congress elements as well. Sibal said conceptually the Yatra is a "wonderful idea".

"Yes,  Bharat Jodo Yatra is something that needs to be lauded. Now as far as its political impact is concerned, I think people are confusing the concept behind the yatra and relating it to a pure political act which I don't think it is," said Sibal.

Sibal told PTI that with the Yatra people are shown that there are two ideologies that they should choose from with 'Bharat Jodo' being one end of the spectrum as opposed to the other end "which we all know is represented by whom".

When asked with the Yatra has succeeded, he said, "To the extent conceptually, certainly, and what I see of the support within the public, of non-Congress elements, I would say that optically it seems to have succeeded." 

Talking about Opposition unity, Sibal said with the Lok Sabha elections not too far away, leaders of the Opposition need to come together.

"How that will happen is something I cannot comment on. I think what we need today, apart from political collaboration among different political parties, is also a people's movement," he asserted.

Asked whether he would join the Bharat Jodo Yatra going forward, Sibal said, "I am trying to sort of take the yatra forward in courts."

Sibal, who was among the leaders of the group of 23 that had written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale organisational reforms, had quit the party last year and was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh with the support of the Samajwadi Party. Since quitting the party, Sibal has refrained from commenting on the affairs of his former party.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is currently in Punjab after traversing the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi, will end with the hoisting of the national flag by Rahul Gandhi in Srinagar on January 30.

Several Opposition party chiefs and leaders have been invited for the Yatra's finale in Srinagar.

(With agency inputs)