Karnataka leg of 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' to begin on Friday

The Karnataka leg of the Congress ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra will begin on Friday with the march led by partys national leader Rahul Gandhi entering the state via Gundlupet in Chamarajanagar district bordering KeralaCongress leaders hope the march in Karnataka which will span about 511 km over 21 days would rejuvenate the party workers ahead of the Assembly polls next yearThis leg of the yatra is also expected to gain national attention as the party is in the process of electing its new president to succeed Sonia GandhiKarnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar and AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal have said that Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would participate in the yatra in the state separately and that the dates will be announced soonAlso Read All women entitled to safe legal abortion Supreme CourtNoting the Karnataka leg of the yatra will begin at Gundlupet on September 30 at 9 AM Shivakumar said on October 2 Gandhi Jayanti day there is a programme at Badanavalu in Nanjangud Taluk which is known for its Khadi and Gramodyog Centre visited by Mahatma GandhiThere will be two days holiday for Dasara there will be a public meeting in Ballari in between Rahul Gandhi will be interacting with youth women civil society students tribal community and farmers among others each day and teams have been formed for this he saidIn the preparation for the yatra the party has carried out grassroots level outreach programmes and are planning to expand it during the march in the state by organising Rahul Gandhis interaction with civil society members farmers tribal community womens groups entrepreneurs and business community representatives among othersSome civil society members and groups are also likely to take part in the yatra according to party sourcesThe yatra will be covering Chamarajanagar Mysuru Mandya Tumakuru Chitradurga Ballari and Raichur districts From Raichur the march will enter TelanganaBefore exiting the state via Raichur a massive public rally has been planned in Ballari on October 19Ballari is significant for the Congress as Sonia Gandhi had earlier won the Lok Sabha election from there and the party also had held a foot march to the district against the then BJP government and the alleged mining mafia there which had proved helpful in its 2013 Assembly polls victoryThe KPCC has named incharge leaders for the yatra for all the days and committees have been formed for logistics food accommodation and other facilitiesThe state Congress is likely to make full use of the yatra by making Rahul Gandhi raise issues concerning the state and the society keeping the elections in mindThe issue of corruption and allegations of 40 per cent commission faced by the state government price rise unemployment constitutional and secular values in the wake of recent communal flareups in the state are likely to resonate during the yatra and in Rahul Gandhis speeches a senior party leader saidShivakumar has asked party legislators to mobilise 5000 people from each of their constituencies for the march and each one has been given designated dates and locations to bring in people However some legislators have expressed concerns on this citing logistical challengesThe yatra has come at a time when the Congress in Karnataka seemed to be a divided house with factionalism and game of oneupmanship between its leaders to have control over party affairs ahead of assembly pollsSiddarmaiah Congress Legislature Party leader and Shivakumar are nursing CM ambitions in the event of the Congress coming to power and are involved in a game of political oneupmanship which has become even more evident after Siddarmaiahs mega 75th birthday celebrations in Davangere last monthOther senior leaders like K H Muniyappa and G Parameshwara seem to be sulking with not much prominence being given to them in the party affairsIt remains to be seen whether Rahul Gandhi and his yatra will be able to unite the party or will it further widen the cracks within the Karnataka unit according to a party functionaryPointing at Congress collapse in Punjab and Goa and now rifts within the party in Rajasthan BJP national General Secretary incharge of Karnataka Arun Singh said in the coming days a similar rift will emerge in Karnataka too between Shivakumar and SiddaramaiahRahul Gandhi is on a Bharat Jodo Yatra while Congress thodo and Congress chodo divide and quit Congress were on In Karnataka also the same thing will happenduring next years assembly polls that the party will be totally wiped out and BJP will come back to power with over 150 seats he saidThe Congress too has set a target of winning 150 out of the total 224 seats to regain power in KarnatakaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice 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