Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi began his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Thoubal near Imphal on Sunday, attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having failed so far to visit strife-torn Manipur and asserting that the reason why he chose to begin his cross country endeavour from the state was because what it has gone through in recent times has been because of the ideology of hatred of the BJP-RSS.
At a public rally held in the Khongjom war memorial ground in Thoubal before he set off for the yatra in a customised bus, Rahul recalled his visit to Manipur in June last year and said that he had found it completely divided.
“Manipur has become the symbol of the politics of hatred of RSS and the BJP,” he said.
He said it was shameful that the prime minister is yet to visit the state to “wipe the tears of the people and hold their hands.”
In an apparent reference to Modi’s Man ki Baat radio show, Rahul said his endeavour during the yatra will be to listen to what the people have to tell him and not tell them his “Man ki Baat’.
He said, after listening to the people, the Congress will present a new vision to the people of the country. “This vision will not be of violence, hatred or monopolies, but the vision of harmony, equality and brotherhood,” he asserted.
Elaborating on the theme of the yatra, Rahul said, “We are going through a period of great injustice in India – social, economic and political injustice”.
“Economic monopolies are being built…few people are getting access to all the wealth of the country as one or two businessmen have their fingers in everything,” he said, adding that a large number of businesses including those in the small and the medium sector are being destroyed.
He said the yatra would highlight the issues of unemployment and price rise. He also spoke about the exclusion of Dalits, the downtrodden, lower castes and tribals from the governance system.
Rahul said that unlike the Bharat Jodo Yatra, this time he would not walk on foot as there is limited time available due to the Lok Sabha elections that are round the corner.
The yatra was flagged off by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Present on the occasion were a large number of Congress leaders, including the three party chief ministers, PCC presidents, CLP leaders, MPs and CWC members.
After reaching Imphal, Rahul went to Khongjom War Memorial to pay homage to the martyrs of the Anglo-Manipur War, which took place in 1891.
Spelling out the vision of the yatra, Kharge said, it seeks to stop the fascist forces in the country, save democracy, save the Constitution and to secure the life and career of the future generations.
He said the yatra was aimed at seeking justice for people on issues such as employment, relief from rising prices, against the growing gap between the rich and the poor, against the closure and sell out of big Public Sector Undertakings, for getting due prices for the farmers, for the fight for justice waged by women wrestlers and others.
Lashing out at Modi for his “indifference and insensitivity” towards the people of Manipur, Kharge said, “he (the PM) always comes here for votes. But when the people of Manipur were suffering and facing violence, the prime minister did not bother to visit them even once while he had all the time to roam on the beaches and snorkelling into the sea.”
The east-to-west yatra will culminate in Mumbai on March 20. It will be carried out in hybrid mode, with small sections to be covered in foot.