Kanyakumari: “If Jawaharlal Nehru ‘discovered’ India, my attempt is to hear India,” declared Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi, while flagging off the Bharat Jodo Yathra at Kanyakumari.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bagel handed over the National flag to Rahul Gandhi at the Gandhi Mandapam on the beach.
Kanyakumari - a confluence of three oceans - witnessed the inauguration of the ‘padayatra’ (foot march), aiming to bring India – a land of different cultures, faiths and languages – together.
Slamming the BJP, Rahul said the BJP’s policy is to divide the nation and choke people with price rises and unemployment. Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul compared the Central governance with British governance.
Rahul reached Kanyakumari through Thiruvananthapuram by noon after offering prayers at father Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial at Sriperumbadur. Following visits to the Thiruvallur memorial, Vivekananda memorial and Kamaraj Memorial, he took part in a prayer meeting at Gandhi Mandapam along with Tamil Nadu CM Stalin and Congress leaders.
Rahul, who spent his night at Agatheeshwaram Vivekananda College, is to tour Kanyakumari from today through September 10. On September 11, he would enter Kerala.
Rahul is to cover 3570 kilometres, on foot, over 150 days in 12 States and two Union Territories of India. As many as 118 marchers are to be with Rahul throughout the journey. Bharat Jodo Yathra is to culminate in Kashmir.
