By Pawan Khera and Manish Khanduri
The Yatris commenced their morning journey at Ganesh Mandir, Rudraram and walked around 13 kilometres to their midday break at Hanuman Nagar.
As the #BharatJodoYatra continues we are increasingly aware of how individuals and groups are joining us on their own, unsolicited. It’s because of the chord the Yatra has struck with people like Motilal, a student leader from Osmania who says he’s not part of the Congress but came with a group of his friends to actively participate in and support the Yatra. “We brought our own flags, and came here by ourselves” he said, “We are supporting the ideals of this Yatra without any political affiliation.”
Bharat Yatri Jhabar Sherawat said that the “spirit of support I see while I’m walking gives me fresh energy and the will to continue.” In part, the ideals of the Yatra seem to have resonated deeply with the public. This was substantiated by Yatri Pramod Sehwag who said that “Today I met someone from the Ordnance factory nearby. They are very worried about the sale of such a sensitive asset without proper due diligence.”
Yatri Pramod Sehwag (centre) today met an Ordnance factory employee who was worried about arbitrary privatisation schemes of the BJP/RSS combine
Meanwhile we’d also like to note the sprouting of Yatra offshoots in other places, for example Assam which had received tremendous support on its second day running.
Environmental pollution has been an increasing sensitive – and urgent – issue, and we would be remiss in not mentioning the thick smog Yatris had to walk through part of the way. It was entirely apt then that one of the en-route interactions of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi occurred with a group of environmental activists.
A special mention to Admiral Ramdas and his wife Lalita Ramdas who at the age of 89 accompanied us part of the way. Our thanks to you, Sir and Ma’am.
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.
Midday Travel Facts
1. Current Districy Name: Sangareddy
2. Sangareddy is home to three large-scale public sector industries. These are – Bharat Heavy Electricals, 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.