Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra enters 63rd day, Rahul Gandhi interacts with locals in Maharashtra

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi resumed the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Biloli in Nanded district of Maharashtra on Wednesday morning as the foot march entered its 63rd day.

Gandhi halted briefly at some places to interact with locals who had gathered to greet him. All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, Mumbai party chief Bhai Jagtap, Naseem Khan, Vishwajit Kadam and other party leaders walked with Gandhi. AICC general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh, Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh and party leader Kanhaiya Kumar walked with the Seva Dal workers. Gandhi had on Tuesday visited a gurdwara in Nanded and targeted the Narendra Modi-led Union government over demonetisation, unemployment and the politics of hatred.

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The foot march was on Tuesday marred by the death of a senior functionary of the Congress Seva Dal. This is the third day of the yatra in Maharashtra. The participants led by Gandhi had entered Maharashtra at Deglur in Nanded from neighbouring Telangana on Monday night. The yatra resumed at 5.45 am on Wednesday from Shankarnagar at Ramtirth in Biloli after a night halt at the Godavari Manar Sugar Factory ground. It will stop for the morning break at Kusum Lawns in Naigaon at 9.30 am. A corner meeting is scheduled at Naigaon in the evening.

The Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, a mass outreach programme, began on September 7 from Kanniyakumari and has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In Maharashtra, the foot march will cover 382 km across five districts and traverse through 15 Assembly and six parliamentary constituencies before entering Madhya Pradesh on November 20. Gandhi will address a rally in Nanded on Thursday and at Shegaon in Buldhana district on November 18.