Yatra will continue till hatred is eradicated: Rahul

New Delhi: On the first anniversary of the launch of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the yatra will continue till hatred is eradicated and India is united.

Gandhi also shared a video montage on X of his over 4,000 km Kanyakumari to Kashmir yatra that was launched on this day last year. In a post in Hindi, Gandhi said, “The crores of steps of Bharat Jodo Yatra towards unity and love have become the foundation of a better tomorrow for the country.”

“The journey continues - till hatred is eradicated, till India unites. This is my promise!” the former Congress chief said. During the course of the yatra, Gandhi addressed 12 public meetings, more than 100 street corner meetings and 13 press conferences.

He had over 275 planned walking interactions and more than 100 sitting interactions. Several experts had said a big takeaway from the yatra for the Congress had been Gandhi’s image transformation -- from a reluctant and part-time politician to one who is mature and taken seriously by opponents. With over 4,000 kilometres under his belt, Gandhi had managed to catch the attention of his supporters as well as detractors. The Congress on Thursday said it was not a “Mann ki Baat” lecturing exercise for Rahul Gandhi but an opportunity to listen to “Janta ki Chinta” and it continues in different forms. Describing the yatra as a transformative event in Indian politics, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said it focused on “rising economic inequalities, increasing social polarisation and deepening political authoritarianism”. In a post on X, he said today marks the first anniversary of the launch of the historic Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi.

“It (yatra) was not a Mann ki Baat lecturing exercise for Rahul Gandhi but an opportunity to listen to Janta ki Chinta (concerns of the people),” Ramesh said. On this day in 2022, the Congress launched the yatra in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, the southern tip of the country. Ramesh said that “after paying tributes to his father at Sriperumbudur, he (Rahul Gandhi) visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Thiruvalluvar statue, the Kamaraj Memorial and Gandhi Mandapam in Kanyakumari”.