Kanyakumari Archives - Lokmarg

Rahul Casts Vote To Elect Next Cong President

By LokMarg 17th October 2022

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi cast his vote to elect the new Congress president at the campsite of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka’s Ballari on Monday.

The 3,500-km yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir is observing a “rest day” on the 40th day of the march in Sanganakallu since its commencement on September 7.
Rahul Gandhi voted at the campsite, which was the meeting room container eventually converted into a polling booth for the elections.

As per the information from Congress’ Twitter, the Wayanad MP along with the 40 other Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates has been scheduled to cast their vote at the specialized booth amid the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Earlier in the day, Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi, party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cast their vote for the next president of the Congress party at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in the national capital.

Voting for the party’s presidential polls commenced at 10 am today and will culminate at 4 pm. Results will be declared on October 19. The fate of the Congress party will be decided by over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates who comprise the electoral college for electing the party chief.

Congress MPs P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, and other party leaders have also cast their votes at the AICC office in Delhi.

In the race for the next president of Congress, party leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are in direct contest with each other.

Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who is pitted against party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of the Congress president on Monday, said the revival of the party has begun whatever the outcome and that the fate of the Congress lies in the hands of the party workers.

Tharoor said he was confident of winning the election but acknowledged the odds against him.

He also said he had spoken to Kharge earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, Kharge also told ANI: “It is part of our internal election. Whatever we said to each other is on a friendly note. Together we have to build the party. (Shashi) Tharoor telephoned me and wished me luck and I also said the same.”

As per the sources, 280 other delegates are also scheduled to cast their vote in the Delhi Congress office.

The delegates who had obtained prior permission from the Central Election Authority to cast their votes will vote in Delhi instead of their own states today.

It is not the first time that a non-Gandhi leader is contesting for the party presidency post-Independence, as Jitendra Prasad contested for the post of the president about 22 years ago against Sonia Gandhi in which she emerged as a winner holding the mantle of the party for 20 years.

Sonia Gandhi is the party’s longest-serving president, having held the office for over 20 years from 1998 to 2017 and since 2019.

This time no member of the Gandhi family is contesting for the post of President.

This is the sixth time in its nearly 137-year history that polls are being conducted to elect the national president of the party. In the 2017 elections, Rahul Gandhi became the president unopposed. (ANI)

Rahul Meets Workers Who Suffered Electric Shock During Bharat Jodo Yatra

By LokMarg 16th October 2022

Some Karnataka Congress workers were admitted to hospital after suffering an electric shock while tying flags to a pole during the Congress party’s ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ led by Rahul Gandhi.

The former Congress President informed about the incident on Sunday through his Facebook post. He called the incident “unfortunate” and said that the injured had been admitted to hospital.
“An unfortunate incident occurred during the Yatra today. A few of our friends suffered an electric shock while tying flags to a pole. They have been tended to in the Civil Hospital, New Moka, Ballari. I am happy to see that they have not suffered any major injuries, and their morale continues to remain high,” the Congress leader said in his Facebook post.

The MP from Wayanad further advised everybody involved with the Yatra to take safety precautions and “utmost care”.

“Even in this moment of distress, the spirit of the #BharatJodoYatra took over. Those injured were immediately helped and taken care of, and their safety and health were prioritized. I would like to take this opportunity to tell all those involved in the Yatra to take safety precautions and utmost care while they go about fulfilling their duties as we forge ahead in our mission to unite India.”

Rahul Gandhi has been leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra since September 7 aiming to cover a distance of 3,500 km, covering as many as 12 states. The Yatra started from Kanyakumari and will end in Kashmir the following year by covering 25 km every day.

Currently, the Yatra is in its Karnataka leg and has covered more than 1000 kilometers so far.

According to Congress, the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and awaken the country’s people to the dangers of economic inequalities and social polar and political centralization.

Notably, all the party MPs, leaders, and workers along with Rahul Gandhi are staying in containers. Sleeping beds, toilets, and ACs are also installed in some of the containers. The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.

The Congress suffered a debacle in the assembly polls held earlier this year and the Yatra is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles. (ANI)

Bharat Jodo Yatra To Reach Milestone Of 1000 Km Tomorrow

By LokMarg 14th October 2022

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach a milestone on Saturday covering 1000 kilometers after starting from Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent launched on 7 September 2022.

The 3500 kilometers yatra will be a historic event for the Congress and the entire country. It is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in the history of India, the Congress said in a statement.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi march was the longest march by foot (389 kilometers in 24 days) between Sabarmati ashram to Dandi (Navasari) in Gujarat state.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach this milestone (1000 kilometers) when it reaches the outskirts of Ballari district, where a massive convention will happen with lakhs of Congress supporters, the party said in its release.

Many co-marchers that included MLAs, MLC, block, and district INC committees, workers, cadres, and support staff were astonished at the energy level Rahul Gandhi displayed en route.

The routine that he followed during the last 1000 kilometers, before resuming after overnight rest has motivated many co-marchers.

20 minutes of exercise, light breakfast in the morning, and throughout the day 25 kilometers of walking on the hot bituminous tarmac and sometimes braving hot sun and showers as he traveled across the three southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.

What surprised the organizers was the lakhs of people from common walks of life participating in the historic journey on foot.

In Tamil Nadu, over a lakh people joined while in Kerala it was close to 1.25 lakhs, and in Karnataka, till Friday it was close to 1.50 lakh people a day.

It is expected when it enters Andhra Pradesh it will be close to 2 lakh people.

As part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, during its leg in backward areas of Badanavalu village in Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi inaugurated a path with colorful interlocking tiles connecting the Dalit quarters of the village with that of the Lingayat community.

Named ‘Bharat Jodo’ Road, the path was renovated in a matter of 48 hours by the INC which said it aimed to send out a message of harmony among communities. Gandhi even laid some of the pink-and-blue tiles himself, thus reopening a link that had been cut off nearly three decades ago in violent circumstances.

Rahul Gandhi during the stretch of Karnataka in Chitradurga met a number of women from the tribal communities and interacted with them they were from Banjara, Dakkaliga, Sudugadu Siddha, Dombaru, Dhombi Dasa and elicited their views on how their lives could be improved.

This is the first time that a national leader of a national party of the stature of Rahul Gandhi visited them. The women were dressed in their traditional dresses and even presented a dance in his honor and welcomed him by performing an aarti.

Rahul Gandhi who has expressed his deep concern for the unemployed youth in various stages of his life as a parliamentarian chose to interact with over 2000 unemployed youth from all over Karnataka.

He met them and inquired with them about their strengths and skills and the causes of their unemployment and how they led their lives and supported their families. This was in Chellakere in the Chitradurga district.

Despite many lakhs of people joining the yatra in various stages, it was scheduled in two sessions 7 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 7 pm and in the intermittent period, Rahul made it sure that he met people from ordinary walks of life -farmers, fisherfolk (both inland and marine) construction workers, teachers, village level leaders and even some prominent people, writers scholars and intellectuals at various points of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. His day began at 5 am and ended at 11 pm, the party statement said.

In ways more than many, the Bharat Jodo Yatra for the first 1000 kilometers of out a total of 3,750 kilometers, has achieved its objective of ‘Bharat Jodo’ (unite India) the Yatra has adequately illustrated how diverse a country as India and its entire diaspora could be seen as one, transcending the barriers of caste, religion, language, regions, and cultures and seen as one.

Rahul Gandhi even before setting out on this odyssey had told his Yatra managers to route the yatra in such a way that he would see the real India and the people, after meeting an entire cross-section of the society so far, people in the close circles of Rahul Gandhi feel that the objective of the Yatra has been realized to a great extent.

From here (after 1000 kilometers), it will be getting only tougher when the Yatra will traverse through difficult terrains unruly weather, and new challenges. (ANI)