New Delhi: The Congress has invited 21 “like-minded” parties to the concluding function of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, hoping that they will participate and strengthen its message of “harmony and equality”.
The party’s president Mallikarjun Kharge sent a letter to 21 parties, according to Jairam Ramesh. “At this time, when the Opposition’s voice is being suppressed in the Parliament and the media, the Yatra is connecting directly with lakhs of people,” Kharge said in the letter.
Through the yatra, the party has discussed the “grave issues” affecting our nation like “inflation, unemployment, social divisions, weakening of democratic institutions and the threat on our borders”, the Congress president said, adding that all sections of society have also participated and shared their problems.
Saying that the party has from the start of the yatra invited the participation of every like-minded Indian, Kharge said he was now personally inviting the parties to join the concluding function of the Bharat Jodo Yatra to be held in Srinagar on January 30. “The function is dedicated to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, who lost his life on this day in his tireless struggle against the ideology of hatred and violence. At this event, we will commit ourselves to fighting hatred and violence, to spread the message of truth, compassion and non-violence, and to defend the Constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice for all,” he wrote.
“At this time of crisis for our country, where public attention is systematically diverted from people’s issues, the Yatra has emerged as a powerful voice. I hope you will participate and further strengthen its message,” Kharge said.
According to NDTV, some of the parties that have been invited are the Trinamool Congress, the Janata Dal (United), Telugu Desam Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has not been invited, he said.
The full text of the letter is reproduced below.As you know, the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir has now completed over 3,300 km. The Yatra has a very simple and enduring message of harmony and equality. Indians have fought for these values over the centuries, and they are enshrined in our Constitution. Every day, Yatris walk 20 25 km through the heat, cold and rain. They have carried the Yatra’s message to tens of lakhs of people. Today, India faces an economic, social and political crisis. At this time, when the Opposition’s voice is being suppressed in the Parliament and the media, the Yatra is connecting directly with lakhs of people. We have discussed the grave issues affecting our nation – inflation, unemployment, social divisions, weakening of democratic institutions and the threat on our borders. All sections of society have also participated and shared their problems – youth, women and elderly; farmers, labourers, small businessmen and industrialists; Dalits, Adivasis, and linguistic and religious minorities; activists, artists and spiritual leaders. This direct conversation with the people has been a major achievement of the Yatra.
From the beginning of the Yatra, we have invited the participation of every like-minded Indian. At the invitation of Shri Rahul Gandhi, MPs of several political parties have also walked in the Yatra at different stages. I now invite you to personally join the concluding function of the Bharat Jodo Yatra to be held in Srinagar on January 30th at noon. The function is dedicated to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, who lost his life on this day in his tireless struggle against the ideology of hatred and violence. At this event, we will commit ourselves to fighting hatred and violence, to spread the message of truth, compassion and non-violence, and to defend the Constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice for all. At this time of crisis for our country, where public attention is systematically diverted from people’s issues, the Yatra has emerged as a powerful voice. I hope you will participate and further strengthen its message.
I look forward to your positive response, and to meeting you in Srinagar.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
Mallikarjun Kharge
Kiara Advani
