Pawan Khera and Manish Khanduri
Bharat Yatri Shatrughan Sharma has a very telling observation to make about the #BharatJodoYatra. Over the past month and a half he says he has seen first hand how the Yatra is proving it has a unifying, healing impact across communities, religions and cultures. Sharma was engaged in his own interaction with leaders of the Muslim community and he said that “To stand on the same platform, to espouse the same unifying ideals – that is the spirit of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
Yatri Shatrughan Sharma (Red turban) witnessed first hand the unifying effect of the Yatra
Indeed if we go right to the end of today’s program, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said much the same thing. Speaking to a huge crowd this evening, Gandhi struck a poignant note. “No power can stop this yatra,” he said, “There is a reason for this – your love, your energy (shakti) is propelling it forward.”
We believe that too. You can’t stop the Yatra. Because you can’t stop the will of the people.
In the evening walk a number of diverse groups joined Congress leaders, as the Yatris walked around 8 kilometres from Shilparamam Function to Ramalayam Arch, Sivampet Village. These included individuals requiring relief and rehabilitation due to development of Mallanna Sagar dam; BSNL employees who stated their opposition to privatization and Hyderabad football league administrators and players.
We will end with another observation from Yatri Sachin Dwivedi. “The morning and evening crowds were huge,” he observed, “But there’s something else happening. It’s the engagement, passion and energy of people. You can’t buy this feeling, this love.”
Currently in the state of Telangana, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a five month, 3500 kilometre long Padyatra from Kanyakumari in 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)
End of Day Travel Facts
1. Current District Name: Sangareddy
2. Sangareddy is home to three large-scale public sector industries. These are – Bharat Heavy Electicals, Bharat Dynamics (where the missile Prithvi was produced), and Ordnance Factory Medak (where the Sarath army tank was made)
3. The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, is located in the district.
4. In 1930, during the Indian freedom movement, the first session of Andhra Maha Sabha against the Nizam’s rule was held in Jogipet town of Sangareddy district. Suravaram Pratap Reddy, a legendary Telegu writer spearheaded the session.
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