Rahul Gandhi's yatra to enter Gujarat on Thursday

Ahmedabad, Mar 6 (PTI) The Congress' Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi is set to enter Gujarat's Dahod district from Rajasthan on Thursday amid desertions by some key state unit leaders of the party.
Former state Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia and ex-working president of the state unit Ambarish Der joined the BJP on Tuesday. In further embarrassment on Wednesday, party MLA Arvind Ladani resigned and announced that he would be joining the ruling party.
The 6,700-km 'Manipur to Mumbai' yatra would be covering a distance of more than 400 km in Gujarat in four days before proceeding to Maharashtra where it would conclude.
It will enter Jhalod taluka of Dahod district around 3 pm on March 7, a Congress functionary said.
Gandhi will begin the Gujarat leg of the yatra by offering tributes to Govind Guru, a tribal hero of the freedom struggle, at his `samadhi' or memorial at Kamboi Dham in Jhalod taluka, said state Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.
The yatra will pass through seven districts of Gujarat which have sizable tribal population, namely, Dahod, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Bharuch, Tapi, Surat and Navsari, before entering Maharashtra at Navagam on the evening of March 10.
Gandhi will be speaking at six public meetings, 27 corner meetings, and will be welcomed by supporters at more than 70 places, Doshi said.

He will visit several temples along the route including the Pavagadh temple in Panchmahal district and Harsiddhi Mataji temple at Rajpipla. He will also offer prayers to Lord Shiva on Maha Shivratri on March 8.
The Congress leader will visit the Swaraj Ashram at Bardoli on the last day of his yatra in Gujarat to pay tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The Ashram was built in 1922 by Sardar Patel, and it served as the centre for planning and execution of the famous Bardoli Satyagraha, a farmers' agitation against increased taxation which turned into a nationalist movement against the British rule.
Gandhi will also hold foot marches through various towns along the way.
The state unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has entered into a tie-up with the Congress for Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat, on Tuesday said it had accepted the Congress' invitation to join in the yatra.
AAP's state president Isudan Gadhvi will participate in the yatra on March 7.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)