By Pawan Khera and Manish Khanduri
The Bharat Yatris bid farewell to Andhra Pradesh this morning, crossing the mighty Tungabhadra river at Mantralayal town.
It has been a momentous journey through the state. Certainly the crowd participation and response has been much better than expected. While the Congress party has a long way to go in the state, the crowd participation throughout has been very encouraging and inspirational. Yatri Keshav Yadav met Satish, a local youth who said that “The people are with the Congress and its ideologies, but the local leaders need to be more energetic.”
Yatri Keshav Yadav near the Andhra- Karnataka border
Rahul Gandhi stated in a press note today that the Congress party was determined to ”do all we can to ensure that the Congress returns to its pre-eminent position in the hearts and minds of the people of this state.”
Although morning temperatures rose rapidly, there was a significant welcoming crowd from Karnataka that waited near the magnificent bridge that spanned the Tungabhadra. The Yatris arrived at their midday rest at Gillesugur in Raichur.
In the afternoon Gandhi will have interactions with farmers from Raichur and northern Karnataka, and OBC representatives from across Karnataka.
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)
Midday Travel Facts
1. Current District Names – Kurnool, Raichur
2. The struggle for liberation against the Britishers in Kurnool goes back to the 1800s. Leaders like Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy, Muthukukr Gowdappa and Nawab Rasool Khan, the last Nawab of Kurnool fought against the British East India Company
3. The district is known for the Kurnool Circular issued by the Kurnool District Congress Committee during the Quit India Movement,1942. Since leadership was preemptively arrested by the British. the Kurnool circular served as a guiding pathway for the people during the movement.
4. Kurnool city, the district headquarters, is referred to as the Gateway of Rayalaseema.
5. The famous Hatti Gold mines are located in Raichur district. The mine This mine is considered to be one of the oldest metal mines in the world
6. Raichur district is known as the cotton bowl of Karnataka, India.