Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s stature has improved and probably gained popularity. Notably, the Bharat Jodo Yatra appears to be causing concern for the BJP. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath is the only leader to have stepped forward in favour of Rahul Gandhi’s candidature for the 2024 polls. On the other hand, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar asserted that he has no objection to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi becoming the Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate in 2024, but pointed out that it would be better if the decision was taken by all the parties together. Meanwhile, AICC general secretary in charge of communication Jairam Ramesh commented that the Bharat Jodo Yatra is not a campaign to project Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate, but an initiative to strengthen the ideology and the organisation of the Congress party and awaken the nation’s conscious. Ramesh added that Gandhi brought three main concerns in the Yatra: Economic inequality, social polarisation, political authoritarianism.
Former Chief of the Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, Lt General R.K Hooda and Lt General VK Narula became the latest eminent personalities to join the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi in Haryana›s Kurukshetra. Several other celebrities, including Boxer Vijender Singh, ‘Shakti Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki’ actress Kamya Panjabi, stand-up comic Kunal Kamra, actors Pooja Bhatt and Swara Bhasker were among others who have been photographed marching with Rahul Gandhi during the grand old party›s foot march, which aims to cover across 3,700 km across India. Actorpolitician Kamal Haasan, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, ex RAW chief AS Dulat have been among others who have joined the Kanyakumari to Kashmir mass connect programme.
A 9-day itinerary for the Punjab leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra has been released by the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). The yatra will commence around 6 a.m. on 11 January after paying obeisance at the Fatehgarh Sahib gurdwara. The yatra will move through Khanna, Doraha, Sahnewal, Ludhiana, Phillaur, Goraya, Phagwara before entering Jammu through the Pathankot border. The party will hold a mega show on day one.