Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said that his party is starting the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra because the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre did not allow the Opposition to raise social, political and economic issues of the country in Parliament.
The march, which begins on January 14 and ends on March 20, will be led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. It will be flagged off by Kharge in Imphal, Manipur and it will conclude in Mumbai.
The march will cover 15 states: Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
“When we tried to raise issues related to the country in Parliament, the government did not allow us to speak,” Kharge said on Saturday. “This is the first time in the history of the country, when 146 MPs were suspended.”
During the Winter Session of Parliament last month, 146 MPs belonging to Opposition parties were suspended for demanding a discussion on the December 16 security breach in the parliament complex and a statement on the matter by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“The 28 Opposition parties were not given any chance to discuss their concerns and Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even bother to come to Rajya Sabha,” Kharge said.
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will also serve as a platform for Dalits, tribals, Adivasis, journalists and small business owners to discuss their grievances, Kharge said.
The march will become a medium to discuss some key issues related to unemployment, inflation, farmers, labourers and the caste census, the Congress chief said. The widening gap between the rich and the poor in the country will also be discussed.
The Congress has invited members of the Opposition INDIA bloc to participate in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Kharge said.
This march will be similar to the Bharat Jodo Yatra that started from Kanyakumari on September 7, 2022, and covered over 3,000 kms before concluding in Srinagar on January 30, 2023.
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