Rahul Gandhi addresses public meeting in Mysuru amid heavy rains

Mysuru, October 2, 2022

Making light of heavy rains, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday evening addressed a public meeting in Mysuru, Karnataka on the 25th day of the party's 150-day Kanyakumari-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra and declared that no force could stop their journey.

Undeterred by the inclement weather, Gandhi continued to speak to the enthusiastic crowd, even as the rains left him, other leaders on the dais and everyone in the audience completely drenched.

"Like a river, this yatra will flow from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Neither storm nor rain or cold weather will stall its flow... it is not about hatred. In this river, you will not come across violence or hatred, there is only love and brotherhood in it," he said.

Those present on the dais included Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal, the party's in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Surjewala, Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar and former state chief minister Siddaramaiah.

The morning began on a contemplative note for the yatris who celebrated Gandhi Jayanti but by evening, as thousands of people joined the march, the mood was festive and electric.

“Just as Gandhiji fought the British Raj we are today embarked on a battle with the very ideology that killed Gandhi," Rahul Gandhi said in a statement.

He also visited the Sri Srikanteshwara Swamy Temple in Nanjangud during the day.

In the evening, he thanked the many people who had come "from far away and stood in the rains to listen" to him.

Over the next three weeks, Gandhi and the other yatris will walk more than 500 km through Karnataka before entering Telangana. In all, the yatra will cover 3500 km as part of the Congress' mass outreach programme aimed at highlighting issues like social polarisation, unemployment, rising prices, economic inequalities and so on. The yatris cover about 22 km every day in two sessions.

Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are expected to join Rahul Gandhi later in the week for the Bharat Jodo yatra.

While Sonia Gandhi will walk along with Rahul Gandhi in Melukote on October 6, Priyanka will join the walk in Nagamangala on October 7.

(With inputs from IANS)

NNN