It’s
6.30 am but still dark around the two-acre camp site for the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kala Bakra village, Jalandhar district. The villagers are yet to stir outside, but the brightly-lit camp, milling with 100-odd truck containers, is already a hive of activity. The party’s Seva Dal organisation is gathered around to unfurl the national flag, following which they sing the national anthem and chant Vande Mataram. They then set out in small groups on the Jalandhar-Dasuya highway, led by Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha member. Half an hour later, as dawn breaks, a bearded Rahul Gandhi, clad in just a half-sleeved white T-shirt in the bitingly cold temperature of 2?C, and hiking pants with sneakers, sets out briskly on the same route with over 200 yatris in tow, many of them carrying the tricolour and Congress flags. A cavalcade of cars and trucks, organised by the local Congressmen, follow, waving banners and belting out Punjabi hits. Lining the sides of the road are giant cutouts of Rahul walking and posters of him wearing a saffron-coloured Sikh turban. Why, there is even a Bhangra performance to greet the yatris.
Despite the early hour, men, women and even children have lined up to catch a glimpse of Rahul, waving their hands furiously to grab his attention. The Congress leader occasionally invites some of them to join him, handing out sweets to children and chatting with their parents. Among them is 16-year-old Sukriti who bunked her pre-board examination to come and get Rahul’s signature on a photo of her grandparents who are Congress supporters but couldn’t make it. There are also lawyers Nikita Sonavane, 30, and Mrinalini Ravindranath, 28, who have travelled from Bhopal to brief Rahul about their campaign to permit the culling of protected wild boars that are proliferating in many states and destroying the crops of farmers. Rahul listens to them intently, all the while walking and waving to the crowds, and exchanges his views on wildlife and the plight of tribal communities around forests. After walking for some four hours, the entire yatra halts and takes a break till 3 pm before setting out again for another four hours, traversing 28 kilometres in all. The yatris then retire to their camps for dinner and a night’s rest before starting early in the morning again.
CONGRESS NEEDS TO WIN IN MP, RAJASTHAN, KARNATAKA AND CHHATTISGARH TO REGAIN ITS LEGITIMACY AS A NATIONAL PARTY AND ARREST ITS SLIDE
It is Day 122 of the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) and Jairam says they have covered nearly 3,000 kilometres across 12 states so far. By January 30 when the yatra, which began in Kanyakumari on September 7, ends at Srinagar, Rahul and his flock of faithful would have travelled more than 3,200 km
