Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will embark on the 6,200 km ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ from Manipur on January 14. It will cover 85 districts in 14 states and conclude in Mumbai on March 20.
Addressing a press conference here at the party headquarters, Congress General Secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal and general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, the yatra will be flagged off by party President Mallikarjun Kharge from Imphal on January 14.
The Nayay Yatra will be for securing economic, social and political justice for the people of the country.
Venugopal said, following the unanimous resolution of the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision making body, on December 21 that Rahul Gandhi should do the second phase of the Yatra from East to West, it was decided that he (Gandhi) should do the second phase of the yatra from Imphal to Mumbai.
Replying to a question about choosing Manipur as the starting point, he said, the state was an important part of the country and also the party wanted to begin the process of healing the wounds of the people of Manipur.
Venugopal said, while in the first phase, Rahul Gandhi covered about 4,000 kms from Kanyakumari to Kashmir covering 12 states, this time he will cover 6,200 kms covering 14 states.
“This time the mode of the ‘yatra’ will be a bus with off and on walking stretches,” he explained.
He said that the Nyay Yatra will cover states of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Ramesh said during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi raised the issues of economic disparities, polarization and dictatorship, the Nyay Yatra will focus on social, economic and political justice for the people of the country.
He said, after spreading the message of unity, love and harmony through Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi will seek justice for the people of the country.
Replying to a question whether the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties will also participate in the yatra, Venugopal said, the final details were being worked out.
Ramesh pointed out, during the Bharat Jodo Yatra leaders of various political parties had also participated in that yatra.