On the occasion of former prime minister Indira Gandhi's birth anniversary on November 19, only women will walk with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra that day, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday, November 17. The Bharat Jodo Yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress has been passing through Maharashtra since its arrival in the state on November 7. After Nanded, the foot march has so far covered Hingoli and Washim districts and will cover Akola and Buldhana districts before proceeding to Madhya Pradesh on November 20.
"On November 19, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, only women will walk in the yatra along with Rahul Gandhi," Ramesh, Congress general secretary in-charge of the party's communication and publicity department, told reporters at Wadegaon in Akola district. The women workers of the Congress and its affiliated wings will participate in both the sessions (pre-lunch and post-lunch) of the yatra on November 19. The party's women public representatives from Maharashtra and other parts of the country will be a part of the foot march that day, he said.
November 17 marked the 71st day of the foot march, which began on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, and the 11th day of its Maharashtra leg. On Thursday, the yatra began at 6 am from Patur after a night halt at a ginning pressing factory. It will proceed to Balapur in the evening and reach Shegaon in Buldhana district on Friday morning.
Besides Nanded, it has so far covered Hingoli and Washim districts of the state.
The foot march will cover Akola and Buldhana districts of Maharashtra before proceeding to Madhya Pradesh on November 20. The Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena leaders, allies of the Congress in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), have participated in the yatra in Maharashtra.