Rahul Gandhi will start the second leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the second week of January. The Congress MP will travel from Arunachal Pradesh to Gujarat. In the CWC meeting, Congress President Kharge mentioned Bharat Jodo Yatra Part 2. The yatra is aimed at strengthening the party ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections in 2024 after the party performed poorly in the recently held assembly polls in the five states.
Congress lost Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to BJP in recently held polls and couldn't manage a fight in Madhya Pradesh. However, the party did manage a win in Telangana by ousting KCR's BRS regime.
The first leg of the yatra had began on September 7 last year from Kanyakumari and passed through 12 states, culminating in Jammu and Kashmir – covering a distance of over 4000 kilometres over the course of about 136 days.
Speaking at the Congress Working Committee meeting, Kharge said party leaders want Rahul Gandhi to undertake another Bharat Jodo Yatra from east to west and the final decision is up to him. The party chief told the leaders that Lok Sabha polls not too far and urged them to concentrate on actionable points.
"Have learnt valuable lessons from mistakes, committed to not repeating them," Kharge said, adding that the outcomes of recent assembly polls were disappointing.
Speaking over the mass suspension of MPs, Kharge said those responsible for protecting MPs failed in their constitutional duties and people holding constitutional positions are becoming part of party politics, "doing politics of caste, region".
"Conspiracy on to convert Parliament into a platform for the ruling party," Kharge said. He added that the country is watching how the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is strangulating democracy by "arbitrarily" passing key bills without discussion.
ALSO READ | With Nearly No Oppn, Lok Sabha Passes CEC Bill To Appoint Top Poll Officials