Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan joined the Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi in Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan on December 14.
The yatra, which had been an initiative by Congress, was commenced by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on September 7 from Gandhi Mandapam, Kanyakumari. MK Stalin, marking the set off, handed over the Khadi Flag to the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The yatra, in a view to connect the whole of India, had its start from Kanyakumari in Tamilnadu, aimed to cover 12 states & two Union Territories and to be ended in Kashmir and throughout the course of journey the Khadi flag would be carried by the congress leader.
Jodo yatra was to be covered the total distance of 3570 kilometres and Rahul Gandhi, according to the sources, was walking 30 kilometres every day.
Eight states had so far been covered including all the southern states, and the Yatra is going to reach its 100th Day mark on Friday this week. The Congress noted that the yatra was meant to address several social issues including unemployment & deflation.
Several activists and followers joined the yatra on its course, Activist Medha Patkar, boxer Vijayendar Singh followed by Raghuram Rajan are a few to be noted.
Raghuram Rajan’s Participation:
Raghuram Rajan has joined the Congress leader for a short duration as the yatra resumed from Bhadoti of Sawai Madhopur on Wednesday morning. There was a video about him having conversation with Mr. Gandhi is doing the rounds in internet.
Raghuram Rajan has often found raising his voice against economic policies of BJP, including demonetization. He blamed the government stating that the party’s policies should not lead to economic slowdown in the country. The critics said that Raghuram Rajan joining the Yatra was not observed with a surprise note.
The Congress has been trying to get noted of all the ‘like-minded’ people through this Yatra as the leader Mr. Gandhi claimed that the aim was meant to ‘unite people’.
Clash of Opinions:
The yatra seemed to be slowly gaining momentum and as a result there were clash of opinions between the followers from the ruling party and the Opposition in social media.
This initiation from the Congress had been praised by the party members right from the beginning. Congress leader Sachin Pilot expressed his support in his twitter handle saying that Jodo Yatra was no more a political yatra but a compaign with a view to connect the country and to unite the people.
But, Raghuram Rajan’s participation in Jado Yatra created a bustle in some of the members from the ruling party. On response, Amit Malviya from BJP tweeted in his handle saying that Mr. Rajan fancied himself as the next Manmohan Singh and added further by calling his action opportunistic.
In another tweet, CT Ravi from BJP posted that Raghuram Rajan, through this support for yatra, had displayed his loyalty to the dynasty which made him the governor.
On addressing the media persons in Sawai Madhopur, AICC General Secretary In- charge Jairam Ramesh said that there was going to be a celebration in Jaipur on December 16 on marking the completion of 100 days of Jodo yatra, with singer Sunidhi Chauhan’s performance.
