The Congress is marking the 100th day of its mass contact campaign, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which has been led by Rahul Gandhi since its inception in September. The march has taken the party through seven states so far, and it is now in Rajasthan. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, joined Gandhi on Friday, along with other newly-elected MLAs from the grand old party. The Himachal victory was a shot in the arm for the grand old party.
The grand old party posted a photo of Sukhu, his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri, and state unit chief Pratibha Virbhadra Singh walking alongside Gandhi in a tweet. “Victory is certain if we march together. “Today, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee President Pratibha Virbhadra Singh, and all Congress MLAs participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra,” read the party’s Hindi post.
The display of unity comes just days after speculation about internal schisms erupted, with names such as Pratibha Singh – wife of former Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh, who died last year – and Mukesh Agnihotri circulating for the top job. Last week, Sukhu’s name was revealed. He has asserted that Vikramaditya Singh, Pratibha’s son, will be accommodated in the cabinet.
“Because the Congress won in Himachal Pradesh, all 40 of our MLAs will participate in the (Bharat Jodo) yatra tomorrow and thank the Congress leadership for believing in us,” Sukhu was quoted as saying by news agency ANI after arriving in Jaipur on Thursday night. Upon his arrival, he was photographed with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
Rahul Gandhi has marched for three months through Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, among other states. The Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra was launched to revive the grand old party’s connection with the masses after back-to-back defeats in elections since 2014.
This week Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan joined the foot march in Rajasthan. He also spoke with Rahul Gandhi about the national economy and shared observations and predictions for the coming year. Kunal Kamra, a stand-up comedian also tweeted about his participation on Wednesday.
“After a week with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, I believe people are avoiding the yatra and attempting to remain neutral. Fear, not neutrality, is keeping you on the fence. Standing up to power is also democratic, as it was prior to 2014 “he wrote in a tweet.
Among those who marched with Rahul Gandhi were actors Pooja Bhatt, Swara Bhaskar, and Riya Sen.
