New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday launched his second large-scale outreach campaign, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, from the Khongjom War Memorial, a site of historical significance. The Yatra commenced at 03.44 pm.


The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is significant in light of the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur, which has claimed the lives of nearly 180 people since May.






At the launch of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Manipur, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP don't consider the northeastern state as part of India.


"I'm in politics since 2004 and for the first time, I visited a place in India where the entire infrastructure of governance has collapsed. After 29th June, Manipur wasn't Manipur anymore, it got divided and hatred was spread everywhere, lakhs of people suffered a loss. People lost their loved ones in front of their eyes. And till now, the Indian PM has not come here to wipe your tears and hold your hand. It is a shameful thing. Maybe for PM Modi, BJP and RSS, Manipur is not a part of India," he said.






The Yatra will visit 100 Lok Sabha segments across 15 states before concluding in Mumbai on March 20 or 21. Aside from Manipur, the yatra will travel through four northeastern states: Nagaland (257 kilometres on two days), Arunachal Pradesh (55 kilometres in one day), Meghalaya (five kilometres in one day), and Assam (833 kilometres in eight days).


Following that, the yatra will visit West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.


The Congress stated on Saturday that the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is an ideological yatra and not an electoral one, and that it is being held to protest the "anyay kaal" of the Narendra Modi government's ten years in power.


According to Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, the country's largest difficulty is dealing with an ideology that believes in divisiveness, economic inequities, and political dictatorship.


“The prime minister shows 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,” Ramesh said.


The Congress has stated that it is taking out the yatra since the government has denied it the opportunity to discuss people's grievances in Parliament and that the effort is focused on re-establishing the Constitutional ideals of justice, liberty, equality, and brotherhood. 


Though the Congress has constantly stated that this is not an electoral yatra, it comes at a critical point in the party's efforts to resurrect its fortunes following a dismal performance in the previous round of assembly elections.


With the BJP focussing on the January 22 Ram temple consecration event, the Congress hopes to draw attention to everyday concerns with this yatra.


Gandhi stated on Friday that emotional problems are being "misused" politically and that attention is being diverted away from serious challenges, a "betrayal" of the country's people.