Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, January 11 accused the BJP of spreading fear and hatred in the country, as he asserted that India stands for "brotherhood, unity, and respect”, and that is why his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was "successful". Rahul Gandhi paid obeisance at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib before the start of the Punjab leg of the Yatra. He later also visited Rauza Sharif dargah. Addressing a gathering at Sirhind, the former Congress chief said, "An atmosphere of hatred and violence has been spread in the country. The BJP and the RSS are dividing the country, pitting one religion against the other, one caste against the other, one language against the other, and they have spoiled the atmosphere of the country." "We thought the country needs to show another path which is of love, unity, and brotherhood, and this is why we started this Yatra," he said.
He also said that his Yatra has been receiving an overwhelming public response as it moves from one state to another. "There is a reason for this – the hatred, fear, and violence being spread by the BJP is not the country's way and not its history. This country is of brotherhood, unity, and respect. And this is why, this Yatra is successful," he underlined. During the yatra, Rahul said he learned a lot as he spoke to farmers, small shopkeepers, labourers, unemployed youth, women, and others. "We walk nearly 25 km each day. The spirit of this Yatra is to listen to what people have to say, listen to their concerns," he said.
He said the biggest issues in the country are hatred, violence, unemployment, and inflation, adding that the Yatra is trying to raise these issues and fight against them. "You gave us your strength and we will interact with you over the next 10 days in the state," he told the gathering in the northern state. Punjab Congress chief Warring, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of Opposition in Haryana Hooda, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan, former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Congress MP Manish Tewari, among others, accompanied Rahul Gandhi in the Yatra.
According to the schedule of the Punjab leg of the Yatra, it started from Sirhind and would pass through Mandi Gobindgarh, Khanna, Sahnewal, Ludhiana, Goraya, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Dasyua, and Mukerian. A rally will be held at Pathankot on January 19 before the Yatra enters Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will conclude in Srinagar by January 30, with Rahul Gandhi hoisting the national flag in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The march has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.