The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi entered its 69th day on Tuesday and will reach Washim district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra later in the day. Gandhi started the foot march from Phalegaon in Hingoli district on Tuesday morning. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, former Maharashtra minister Yashomati Thakur and other party leaders walked along with Gandhi.
Ramesh remembered iconic tribal leader Birsa Munda on his birth anniversary on Tuesday. He posted a tweet saying, “Today is the 69th day of #BharatJodoYatra and the 147th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, born just 15 days later than Sardar Patel. But tragically, he died in a British jail in Ranchi at the very young age of 25.” “An adivasi (not vanvasi as the RSS calls tribals), Birsa Munda should be an inspiration to ALL Indians. The causes for which he laid down his life, particularly tribal land rights are still most relevant today,” Ramesh added.
The government had last year declared November 15 as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ on the birth anniversary of Munda to remember the contribution of tribal freedom fighters. The Bharat Jodo Yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress which started from Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, has so far covered 28 districts in six states.
It entered Deglur in Maharashtra on November 7 and has till now covered Nanded and Hingoli districts in the state. The yatra will cover a distance of 382 km across five districts of Maharashtra before entering Madhya Pradesh on November 20.It will pass through 12 states before culminating in Jammu and Kashmir in January after covering a distance of 3,570 km over nearly 150 days.
