"An ideological, not an electoral Yatra": Congress ahead of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra

Imphal (Manipur) [India], January 13 : As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slated to start the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' from here tomorrow, the party on Saturday said that the Yatra is an ideological battle the grand old party has mounted against the politics of polarisation and social, economic and political injustice.
"It is an ideological yatra by a political party but not an electoral yatra", Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said here today.
Addressing a press conference on the eve of the Yatra, Ramesh, along with Manipur incharge Girish Chodankar; former Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, PCC president Meghachandra Singh and former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister announced that Rahul Gandhi will embark on about sixty-day Yatra from Khangjom in district Thoubal near here tomorrow.
"The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is the second step after the Bharat Jodo Yatra. While the first yatra was for seeking love and harmony across the country against the politics of hate and violence, this yatra was for seeking justice for the people of the country. It includes social, economic and political justice," he said.
Ramesh pointed out that there are four pillars of the constitution of the country, which include Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
"The current regime, during the last ten years, has done everything to deny the people of the country social, economic and political justice," he asserted.
Ramesh disclosed that Rahul Gandhi will spread the positive agenda on how to seek justice for the people of the country.
He reiterated that this is an ideological yatra by a political party and not an electoral yatra.
Jairam Ramesh also observed that there was an atmosphere of fear prevailing in the country with women, scheduled tribes, SC, minorities and other sections of society feeling insecure.
"While India is the largest democracy in the world, right now it has turned into a one-man show. There is no 'loktantra' but just 'ektantra'", he remarked, while adding, that the Yatra is aimed at strengthening the democracy and the democratic institutions of the country.
Ramesh said that the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge today formally invited all the INDIA leaders to participate in the Yatra as it passes through various states like West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Maharashtra and others.
"During the Yatra, Rahul Gandhi will be addressing two public meetings every day. Besides, he will be meeting between 20 to 25 people every day from different sections of the society. He will also be interacting with the civil society groups," he added.
Ramesh said that during the next eleven days, the Yatra will remain in five northeastern States of the country.
On January 23, Rahul Gandhi will have a public interaction with the citizens in Guwahati in connection with the manifesto.
"Before starting the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi will pay homage to the martyrs at the Khongjom War Memorial, in Thoubal. This is a historic memorial, which was inaugurated by the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee in 2016 when Ibobi Singh was the Chief Minister of Manipur," Jairam Ramesha added.
Giving details of the Memorial, Ibobi Singh said that it was built in memory of the martyrs of the last Anglo-Manipur War that took place in 1891, where the martyrs laid down their lives against the British. He said, it was not only important for Manipur, but the whole country.