By Pawan Khera and Manish Khanduri
It was once again a large, enthusiastic and celebratory crowd that heated up the cold winter morning as the Yatris walked thirteen kilometres from Badhoti to their midday break at Badshahpura. “Remarkable” says Congresswoman Supriya Shrinate, “Especially the number of women who were there at such an early hour in the cold.”
In fact both yesterday and today the high proportion of women in the crowd has been remarkable. Along the way we met Balobai, who was there with a number of women form her village. “We’ve come to see Rahul Gandhi”, she said, “It feels so good that he’s walking for us.”
Balobai (left) came with a number of women from her village. “We’ve come to see Rahul Gandhi,” she said, “It feels so good that he’s walking for us.”
Also walking with us was former governor of the RBI, Raghuram Rajan. We caught up with him asked him about his reasons and the experience. “When the idea of the Yatra was mooted, we thought it was targeted at an issue broader than a political party,” he said, “The values of communal harmony, peace and equality are being undercut steadily over time. We need to come together as citizens; in fact ordinary citizens should be concerned about these divisions.”
And what was the experience like? “We just walked fast!” He wasn’t joking – Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s speed while on the march has been a topic of much conversation, admiration and, if we may say, occasional despair among the yatris who sometimes wish he would go a tad slower! On a more serious note Rajan also said that he found “People are eager to greet the Yatris. The message is getting across and it would be nice if it were picked up more widely.”
Indeed. At the same time, for those like Rahul, 11, the message had already reached. “I want to meet him and say hello” he said, visibly excited to wait for his namesake Rahul Gandhi.
We want to take the time to once again mention the many gifts of generosity that the Yatris have received while on the road. One example would suffice for today – Kedar Prasad Meena had set a stall distributing guavas to passers by. We thank you, sir.
Kedar Prasad Meena (centre, in cap) had set a stall distributing guavas to Yatris
At a press conference in the morning attended by Member of Parliament Jairam Ramesh , chief minister Ashok Gehlot and PCC President Govind Singh Dostara. In a critique of the BJP/RSS economic model Gehlot stated that “People today are badly impacted by price rise. There is no Gujrat model, it was Modi ji’s marketing.”
In the afternoon Congress MP Rahul Gandhi held an interaction with workers and union representatives. The discussion covered a number of topics including MNREGA, the plight of hawkers, AASHA and app based workers.
Speaking at a press conference at the end of the day Rahul Gandhi, in a critique of the crony capitalist policies of the BJP states that stated that “India’s 100 richest people have the same wealth at 55 crore other Indians. India is run for these 100 people.”
We close by wishing Bharat Yatri Jhabar Sherawat a very Happy Birthday! His birthday is today- however at the midday camp the Yatris decided to celebrate it yesterday. It’s their version of an inside joke, and hard to explain. But who are we to say any different?
We wish Bharat Yatri Jhabar Sherawat a very Happy Birthday! His birthday is today – however at the midday camp the Yatris decided to celebrate it yesterday. It’s their version of an inside joke, and hard to explain.
Currently in the state of Rajasthan, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a five month, 3500 kilometre long Padyatra from Kanyakumari in india the South of India to Kashmir up in the North. It is part of the party’s national mass outreach program aimed at highlighting social polarisation, economic inequalities and political centralisation.
Ground research: Aparna Ashwarya (INC Communications Department research team)
Travel Facts
1. District name: Sawai Madhopur
2. Sawai Madhopur district is home to the world famous Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.
3. The district is the birthplace of the famous painter Mr Ram Gopal Verma.
4. The district has one of the most important places for Hindu Pilgrimage, Ghusmeshwar Mahadev. It is said to be the 12th and last jyotirlingas of Mahadev.
5. The district is famous for its guavas. 65 percent of the guava production in Rajasthan happens here.
6. Dausa district is the birthplace of a noted saint, poet and social reformer of medieval India, Sunderdas.
7. Dausa is home to Chand Baori, one of the oldest, deepest and largest baoris (stepwells) in Rajasthan.
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