Congress launches website, tagline, pamphlet for Bharat Jodo Yatra

The Congress on Tuesday officially launched the website and tagline for the pan-India 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', scheduled to begin on September 7 from Kanyakumari.

It said that the aim of the yatra is to unite India; to come together and get the country back on its feet.

Veteran leaders Jairam Ramesh and Digvijaya Singh jointly launched the detailed programme of the event.

The Yatra, which aims to unite the country, protect India's diversity, ensure equality and end hatred will pass through 12 states and two Union Territories before culminating in Jammu and Kashmir. It will span a distance of nearly 3,500 kilometres in a time period of about 150 days. In addition, the Yatra will be carried out simultaneously in other states too.

Launching its website and logo, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh mentioned the three objectives of the Yatra:

• To deal with the tremendous challenge of economic inequality which is dividing India;

• To overcome the social polarisation in the country which is taking place in the name of caste, religion, food, dress, language etc;

• Thirdly, to overcome the political division which is being caused by the misuse of the central agencies, the abuse of the Constitution and the conflict between the Centre and the states.

On the occasion, veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh said, "We will highlight issues like constitutional institutions being compromised, inflation and other issues in this yatra. Its purpose would be to exhort people to shed hatred and come together for the betterment of the country."

"Don't you, as citizens of India, feel the need of this Yatra for uniting India amid the way religious frenzy is being spread, and economic and social gaps are increasing?" he asked.

Senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, will actively participate in the march. Those who are unable to join physically will help spread its message by organising events and participating in online campaigns.

People from all walks of life will join it at various points and march together. It will be a celebration of India's unity, a festival of hope that will come alive with musical programmes and contests that anyone can participate in.

"This is an open invitation to all to join and walk with us. India belongs to all of us. 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is for all," the party said.

Economically, the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, the party said, adding that the common people are distressed by sky-rocketing inflation and unemployment.

Farmers and agricultural workers are buried under debt. The assets of our country are being sold to crony capitalists at a huge loss, it said.

"Socially, people are being divided on the basis of caste, religion, region, language, food, dress," the party said, adding that every day, a new conspiracy is hatched to make one Indian fight another. There is a growing sense of insecurity, especially among women, it said.

It said that politically, the voices of people are being suppressed and our constitutional rights are being crushed. Efforts are being made in a systematic manner to subvert our Constitution, dismantle our institutions, hollow out our democracy, and destroy our unity and fraternity.

State governments elected by the people are being destabilised by money power and misuse of agencies, it said.

"The states are not getting the tax money owed to them by the Union government on time. Dalits, adivasis, backward classes are being deprived of their basic rights -- jal, jangal and zameen," the Congress said.

The party said to tackle all this, we must come together, hold hands, and understand the power of unity.

"We must start a movement to get rid of the politics of division and hate, strengthening social harmony along the principles of 'Unity in Diversity' and 'Sarva Dharma Sambhava'," it said.

It released the following official handles of the Bharat Jodo Yatra & the website:

https://twitter.com/bharatjodo

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzk56dN-IkOu9_-Suja95Nw

https://www.instagram.com/bharatjodo/

https://m.facebook.com/BharatJodo/

https://www.bharatjodoyatra.in/

With IANS inputs