Referring to his encounters with locals on Wednesday, Gandhi said a young boy told him about the lack of practical education in the country due to which there are no job opportunities, while a little girl told him that her parents love her brother more than they love her.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Supriya Sule, Jitendra Awhad and state unit president Jayant Patil are scheduled to join Gandhi on the way and will also attend the public rally.

Former Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray will join the yatra on Friday.

This is the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s 64th day after it started from Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7.

The yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress, will cover a distance of 3,750 km before concluding in Srinagar in January 2023.

Addressing a meeting in Nanded on Wednesday night, Gandhi said projects like the Tata-Airbus military aircraft venture and Vendanta-Foxconn semiconductor plant were taken away  from Maharashtra and given to Gujarat because of the Assembly elections in the neighbouring state.

“These projects will be given to two-three industrialists who are the prime minister’s friends and the country’s wealth is accumulating in their hands. Ports, infrastructure, telecom, agriculture sectors have been given to these people,” Gandhi alleged.