By Pawan Khera and Manish Khanduri
(With inputs from Gaurav Pandhi)
Hellooooooo Karnataka!
“What a way to start the yatra!” Congress worker Lavanya Ballal tweets, “Spotted elephants and deers when the #BharatJodoYatra was moving from Tamilnadu to Namma Karnataka.” It was indeed a lovely observation.
Elephants and deers, we spotted. We also spotted several thousand people as the yatra started the first of its 21 day journey through Karnataka.
The yatra was received in Karnataka at Ooty-Calicut junction in front of Ambedkar Bhawan Gundlupet, Chamrajanagar. Rahul Gandhi and other yatris were greeted by Karanataka Congress heavyweights ….
Rahul Gandhi and the Yatris greeted by senior Congress leaders of the state.
Today had a different start than usual – instead of beginning the day with the yatra, it began with a thundering rally in Gundlupet. Every site on the rally ground was filled, music filled the air and the beats from various drumming circles added to the excitement.
After the rally, the yatra resumed from the Ooty-Calicut Junction and the yatris walked 4 kilometres to their midday break near the Lord Shaneshwara Temple, Panjanahalli.
In a sense the yatris’ entrance into Karnataka was also a time to recall history and give a hat tip to modernity and development. The historic 39th session of the Congress Party was held in the Belgaum District of Karnataka, India. It was the only session presided over by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
And today the state is the fastest growing economy in the country and the fourth largest growing technology cluster in the world! Bengaluru, the state’s most popular city is known as the Silicon Valley of Asia.
In the afternoon Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will interact with the tribal community association of Chamarajanagar district, and meet with families of those who died due to oxygen shortage during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra is presently in the state of Karnataka. Over the next 21 days in the state, it will cover 511 kilometres.
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.
Source for ground research: Aparna Ashwarya (INC Communications Department research team)
Midday Travel Facts:
1. Route traveled/ major settlements: Chamrajanagar – Panjanahalli.
2. Current District Name -Chamrajanagar
3. Karnataka is the seventh largest state in India. It’s major rivers are Cauvery, Tungabhadra and Krishna.
4. Earlier known as “The State of Mysore”, it was formed on 1 November 1956, after the State Re-organisation Act of 1956
5. Karnataka is the fastest-growing economy in India.