On the anniversary of first leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that through the Yatra, he learned to “truly listen”. The Congress leader started out on the first leg of this yatra from Kanyakumari-Kashmir on this day in 2022.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra taught me the beauty of silence. In the midst of cheering crowds and slogans, I discovered the power to tune out the noise and focus entirely on the person next to me—to truly listen.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 7, 2024
In those 145 days, and the two years since, I’ve listened to thousands of… pic.twitter.com/ZBWY7fxOHN
Reminiscing the experience, Gandhi tweeted, “The Bharat Jodo Yatra taught me the beauty of silence. In the midst of cheering crowds and slogans, I discovered the power to tune out the noise and focus entirely on the person next to me—to truly listen.”
“In those 145 days, and the two years since, I’ve listened to thousands of Indians from diverse backgrounds. Each voice has carried wisdom, teaching me something new, and each has represented our beloved Bharat Mata. The Yatra proved that Indians are inherently loving people. When I started this journey I said love will conquer hate and hope will defeat fear, today our mission remains the same – to ensure the voice of Bharat Mata, the voice of love is heard in every corner of our beloved country,” the Congress leader said.
During the Yatra, Rahul Gandhi told The Week that Yatra was a humbling experience. “It is one thing as a politician to go somewhere by car or plane, and meet people and listen to them. You learn quite a lot like that. You can also sit with a farmer and talk to him. But it is a completely different thing when you are walking on the road. And particularly when you are walking for 100 to 120 days in a row, and you are feeling a bit of pain and pressure. So that has been one very humbling thing.” Rahul Gandhi said while walking, “you see the difficulty that people in India face”.
The yatra, which began on September 7, 2022 in Kanyakumari journeyed through 12 states and two Union territories and covered 3,970 km. It concluded in Kashmir on January 30, 2023. The Yatra inspired Congress to organize its second leg, Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Mumbai.
Congress and the opposition INDIA bloc believes the Yatra did help in improving its numbers during the Lok Sabha polls and it presented Rahul Gandhi as a formidable leader against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
