Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will start from Manipur at any cost: Congress leader Venugopal
Jan 10, 2024
New Delhi [India], January 10 : With the Manipur government "declining" the party's request for the start of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the Palace Ground in Imphal, Congress leader KC Venugopal on Wednesday emphasised that the yatra will start from Manipur at any cost and the party is ready to cooperate with the authorities.
"Bharat Jodo Yatra will start from Manipur at any cost. We are going ahead with the programme...We don't want to politicise this Yatra. This is a peaceful demonstration which we are doing for the justice of the people of India, especially the people of Manipur," he told ANI.
"We are ready to cooperate with the government, on whatever level we can do. But we are very sure that we will start the Yatra from Manipur itself," Venugopal added.
Manipur Congress chief Keisham Meghachandra said earlier that Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has declined permission for the venue in Imphal decided for the start of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Imphal and that the state party unit is looking for an alternative option.
"Today, a team of Manipur Congress members met the CM. He has declined to give permission for the venue. We also submitted our request to our deputy commissioner of Imphal on January 2. He (Manipur CM) declined the request...that he would not give any public lane in Manipur. It is very unfortunate. The use of the lane is our right. The lanes do not belong to the Chief Minister," Meghachandra told ANI.
"Even if the government declines (the permission), we have decided to do this near the Khongjom War Memorial complex, Thoubal, in a private lane. We are discussing this with the AICC team and the senior leaders of the party," he added.
Earlier in the day, party leaders Jairam Ramesh and Venugopal released the road map and a pamphlet of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the national capital.
The Congress has said that the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will be led by party leader Rahul Gandhi will commence from Imphal on January 14 and cover a distance of 6,713 km, straddling 100 Lok Sabha constituencies and 337 assembly segments and covering 110 districts.
