On Wednesday, as Congress party started its ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Kanyakumari, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s husband and Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra indicated the beginning of his political career. The businessman took to Twitter today to promote a party banner of the campaign featuring his image along with the other Congress leadership on it.
“Bharat Jodo”, Varda tweeted on September 7 sharing the posters of the campaign showcasing his picture with late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, incumbent party president Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra, and Rahul Gandhi. According to the reports, this is a month after Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra had said that he was ready to be a part of politics.
“If people wish I should represent them and if I can bring some change for them, then I will take this step. By doing so, I will be able to serve people in a major way”, Vadra had said in April after offering prayers at the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain.
BJP slammed Congress after Robert Vadra posted the tweet hinting at his entry at the party. Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonwala said, “Congress’ Bharat Jodo is actually only PARIVAR JODO AND BRASHTACHAR JODO.’ ‘It’s not about Bharat Jodo but ‘Parivar ko Jodo’. It’s not ‘Pad Yatra’ but a yatra for a ‘pad’ (position)’, Poonawala said while talking to the media.
This comes amid the wave of resignations that the Congress party has faced in the past few days. Recently, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from the Congress exposing the party in his 5-page resignation letter. He stated that experienced leaders were marginalized by the high command in favor of a new clique of inexperienced sycophants and that only the selective ones were allowed to handle the party’s business.
Many other Congress leaders including Jaiveer Shergill, Kapil Sibal, Sunil Jakhar, RPN Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Hardik Patel, GM Saroori, Haji Abdul Rashid, Mohd Amin Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Wani, and Choudhary Mohd Akram have also resigned from the party.
The Congress ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra,’ described as an effort to unite and build the nation, will be formally launched today by former Congress President Rahul Gandhi. It would begin in Kanyakumari, go across 12 states, and end in Jammu and Kashmir, traversing over 3,500 kilometers in 150 days. It will pass through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu, and end in Srinagar.
Reports mention that a total of 118 Congress leaders are supposed to walk over the entire route with Gandhi in the Yatra. The participants are likely to walk 22-23 km daily with the march moving in two batches from 7 am to 10:30 am and from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm. The party also plans to organize similar small yatras of 50 km or 100 km in each state. This is being interpreted as another attempt by Congress to engage with the masses and promote Rahul Gandhi as a rival to Prime Minister Modi in the 2024 elections.