Priyanka Gandhi, her husband Robert Vadra, participate in Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan

GG News Bureau

Kota, 12th Dec. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, her husband Robert Vadra, and hundreds of women on Monday joined Rahul Gandhi as the Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed from the neighbouring Bundi district, marking International Women’s Day.

On Monday, the march, which began around 6 a.m. from the Tejaji Maharaj Mandi in Babai, will be called the Nari Shakti Pad Yatra.

On the Kota-Lalsot Mega Highway, a large number of women, including party workers and women from surrounding areas, marched alongside Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi and other yatris as they marched from Babai to Pipalwada in Swaimadhopur district, where they will take a break.

“The BJY on its 96th day began with the daylong Nari Shakti Pad Yatra at around 6 am from Tejaji Maharaj Temple at Babai village after prayers, singing of national anthem, national song, and flag hoisting,” said Rahul Rao, a padyatri who has been walking with the yatra since the beginning on September 7.

He went on to say that a large number of women stood by the roadside to greet the yatris and join the march.

Monday is the seventh day of the yatra in Rajasthan. It is also the final day in the Bundi district.

After marching for approximately 6 kilometres from the Tejaji temple, the yatra entered Tonk district at about 7.15 a.m. and will march for nearly 5 kilometres in Tonk before entering Swaimadhopur via Pipalwada.

When the yatra resumed this morning, over 5,000 women marched alongside Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, and a large number of women joined along the way, according to Ajay Sharma, Congress’ Indergarh (Bundi) block president, who is also marching.

Rahul Gandhi also addressed the padyatris, he said.

According to BJY state co-coordinator Kapil Yadav, the 96th day of the BJY is dedicated to women empowerment, which is why it is being called Nari Shakti Pad Yatra for Monday.

The yatra has entered Rajasthan, the only Congress-ruled state, and will travel 500 kilometres in 17 days before entering Haryana on December 21. The yatra began on September 7 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, and has so far traversed the five southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana, as well as Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

It will end in Jammu and Kashmir in early February 2023, having travelled 3,570 kilometres in 150 days.