By Pawan Khera and Manish Khanduri
(With inputs from Gaurav Pandhi)

“We are seeing amazing crowds, day by day they seem to keep increasing”

17 September 2022, 12PM: As is increasingly becoming the norm, there were large crowds gathered at Puthiyakavu Junction in Kollam district, Kerala, to see off the yatris at the start of their Day 9 of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, even at such an early hour. “We are seeing amazing crowds, day by day they seem to keep increasing” said Bharat Yatri Mohit Uniyal from Uttarakhand.

The Bharat Jodo Yatris got an early start to their 150 day India journey, commencing at 6:30AM. This was preceded by a 6AM flag raising ceremony at the Sreedhareeyam Convention Centre, Karunagappally.

Congress party leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi led the march alongside party General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, Kerala CLP VD Satheesan and other leaders.

For Aditya Bhagat, Bharat Yatri from Jharkhand, today was an opportunity to walk alongside Rahul Gandhi. “I came out of the interaction strongly believing that he is the only person in the country capable of leading our nation, given the rising levels of unemployment, social and religious discord”

The marchers arrived for their midday break at GDM Auditorium, Kayamkulam. During the morning march, the yatra also crossed from Kollam district to Alappuzha district.

In the afternoon, during the break at Kayamkulam, Congress leaders are expected to have interactions with local youth on issues related to unemployment, and also with children from a special school.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra is presently in the state of Kerala. Over 19 days in the state, it will cover 7 districts over 450 kilometres, before it commenced in Karnataka on October 1.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra is a five month, 3500 kilometre long padyatra from Kanyakumari in the South of India to Srinagar 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:

• Distance traveled this morning (Source: Yatri Samrat Keshri Jena’s walking app): 11.23 Km/ 16,544 steps
• Route traveled/ major settlements: Karunagappally – Oachira Kayamkulam
• Current District Name – Alappuzha