The yatra, which saw Gandhi's arrival in Sambhal via Moradabad and Amroha, received a warm welcome from Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
While speaking at the Chandausi intersection, Gandhi engaged with a man, asking him, "How many hours do you use your mobile?" to which he replied, "Twelve hours." In response, Rahul Gandhi stated, "There is no employment in India, that is why you use your mobile phone for 12 hours. Did you know that the sons of big businessmen don't watch Reels, they count money 24 hours (a day)?" "If you get employment, you will watch Reels for half an hour and work for 12 hours," the Congress leader remarked.
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Rahul Gandhi, who has repeatedly asserted throughout the yatra that members of the SC/ST, Dalit, and lower classes do not occupy senior posts, intensified his criticism of their underrepresentation.
He asserted, "If we take out the list of employees of any company … take out the list of owners. Not one backward-class, Dalit owner will be found. Take out the list of owners of media houses, private colleges, or judges of high courts. The same three to four percent people (from upper castes) keep working in these positions." Gandhi also alleged that efforts were underway to marginalise small-scale farmers and traders. "You are being starved to death, you are being destroyed. Exam paper gets leaked because these people do not want to provide employment to the youth of India. They cannot provide employment to them," Gandhi further added, PTI reported.
The Congress leader embarked on the 4,000-kilometer Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir last year to counter the spread of animosity between the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh across the nation.
In a direct criticism of the media, Gandhi remarked, "Whenever we present our views in the media, the media does not show it. Be it the hard work of workers, unemployment, inflation -- these things are not going to be visible in the media." "A shop of love has to open in the market of hatred," Rahul Gandhi said and added, "My work is to fight and eradicate hatred from the country." Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, another prominent Congress leader, lambasted the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh, accusing them of demolishing the homes of innocent individuals while allowing the guilty to evade justice.
Priyanka Gandhi Joins Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra From Moradabad
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined the yatra as it resumed its journey from Moradabad after a two-day pause for the final leg of the march in Uttar Pradesh. She will accompany her brother as the yatra proceeds through Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, and Agra, concluding at Fatehpur Sikri on Sunday, as per the Congress party's announcement.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is scheduled to join the yatra in Agra on Sunday, following a seat-sharing agreement between the parties in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was slated to participate in the yatra upon its entry into Uttar Pradesh in Chandauli, but her health issues and subsequent hospitalisation prevented her from doing so.
Addressing the public in Moradabad, she outlined, "When I came here in 2022, we had made a plan in the manifesto on how to stop repeated question paper leaks. It consisted of a job calendar, which would have the examination date and the date of appointment. We also spoke about making a commission to address all the injustices that had taken place." The Congress general secretary also said that the country's unemployment and inflation are rising. "The farmers were protesting yesterday. The farmers are protesting today also but the government is not listening to them. In Uttar Pradesh, bulldozers did not run on the homes of those who crushed farmers under their jeeps, tortured women and leaked question papers. In this government, the bulldozer is not moved on guilty but only on the homes of innocent people," she also said, PTI reported.
Speaking about the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, she explained that "nyay (justice)" was added to its name to signify the injustices faced by women, children, and farmers in the country. She urged for collective action, stating"Until you bring about a change, your circumstances will not change".
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party leader ST Hasan also joined the yatra stating, "At present, the country is going through a terrible situation. To date, there has never been such a threat to communal harmony. Today, all Indians want our love and the Ganga-Jamuni culture to remain intact." The yatra is to enter Rajasthan and end in Dholpur on Sunday.
The Congress has announced that the yatra will take a hiatus from February 26 to March 1 to enable Rahul Gandhi to fulfill his longstanding commitment to deliver two lectures at Cambridge University in the UK on February 27 and 28.
During this period, he will also attend meetings in New Delhi, the party stated.
The yatra will recommence from Dholpur on March 2, traversing through Madhya Pradesh, covering districts such as Morena, Gwalior, Shivpuri, Guna, Shajapur, and Ujjain, among others. On March 5, Rahul Gandhi will pay his respects at the Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, where he had offered prayers on November 29, 2022, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
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