Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra enters Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Hyderabad on Tuesday to a huge response by the party cadres and supporters.

After covering Narayanpet, Mahabubnagar and Rangareddy districts, the yatra entered Hyderabad on the seventh day of its journey in Telangana.

Rahul Gandhi along with other party leaders and workers resumed the walkathon from Matha temple at Shamshabad on the city outskirts and entered the city through Bangalore-Hyderabad highway.

Congress MP and yatra coordinator for Telugu states Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud and other leaders along with hundreds of party workers were participating in the yatra.

The yatra will halt at Bahadurpura, where Rahul Gandhi will meet various groups and will have lunch and take rest.

The foot march will resume in the evening and reach the historic Charminar after passing through Puranapul, Hussaini Alam and Khilwat. At the historic monument, Rahul Gandhi will hoist the national flag.

It was at the Charminar that Rahul Gandhi’s late father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had launched Sadbhavana Yatra on October 19, 1990 for communal harmony in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Every year, the Congress party organises Sadbhavana Yatra commemoration day at Charminar and presents awards to personalities working for peace and communal harmony.

From Charminar, Rahul Gandhi will lead the Bharat Jodo Yatra to Necklace Road on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake, which divides the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

The yatra will pass through busy areas like Patthergatti, Madina Circle, Afzal Gunj, MJ Market, Nampally, Saifabad and Secretariat to reach Necklace Road.

The Congress MP will then garland the statue of his late grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Necklace Road and address a corner meeting. Congress leader and incharge for Telangana Manickam Tagore said Rahul Gandhi will also pay tributes to late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, whose Samadhi is located at Necklace Road.

Newly-elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will also be joining Bharat Jodo Yatra in Hyderabad later in the day.

He will walk for some distance with Rahul Gandhi and is likely to address the corner meeting at Necklace Road.

Hyderabad police have made elaborate security arrangements for the yatra. They have imposed restrictions on movement of traffic on the yatra route.

Rahul Gandhi will have a night halt at the Gandhi Ideology Centre at Bowenpally in Secunderabad.

The yatra will continue in Telangana till November 7 with a one-day break on Friday.

It will cover a total distance of 375 km in 19 Assembly and seven Parliamentary constituencies in the state.