After traversing five states in south India for two months, the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by MP Rahul Gandhi, is all set to enter Maharashtra on Monday evening at Madnur Naka in Nanded district, bordering Telangana, party leaders said here on Sunday.
The BJY began from Tamil Nadu, and moved through Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana,
before entering the central Indian phase from Maharashtra, with a massive crowd expected to join Gandhi.
After taking a night’s rest at a local mill ground in Deglur town, Gandhi will start the 14-day long state leg on Tuesday morning which would take him through six Lok Sabha and 15 Assembly constituencies spanning 381 kms in five districts of MarathwadaVidarbha regions.
For the next fortnight in the state, he will undertake a gruelling fourhour morning schedule from 6 a.m. and a three-hour evening schedule from 4.30 pm, traversing through hamlets, villages, towns and cities en route, marching around 22-25 kms daily.
The MP from Wayanad, who has already won admiration for his downto-earth attitude, enviable fitness and brisk walking style, will also address two major rallies in which Congress leaders say several lakhs of people from all over the state are expected to participate at different places en route.
After walking through Nanded, Hingoli, Washim, Akola and Buldhana districts, the BJY will enter Madhya
Pradesh on November 20, though efforts are reportedly on to tweak the schedules and add three more days in Maharashtra following demands by the local leaders.
The two big rallies Gandhi will address are scheduled in Nanded on November 10 and Buldhana on
November 18. Besides, during the BJY, he conducts daily small meetings, personal interactions with the local population, impromptu street-corner meetings, mingling with the masses, discussing their concerns, the problems confronting the nation like inflation, unemployment, spiralling fuel prices, women’s safety, etc.
Top leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena-UBT will join the BJY at different points.