Under consideration: Congress on Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0

The Congress on Saturday said Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 is "under consideration", with some CWC members requesting that it be undertaken from the eastern part of the country to the west.

Addressing a briefing on the deliberations of the first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) in Hyderabad, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said members of the party's top decision-making body have requested a "Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 from east to west".

"That matter is under consideration," he said in response to a question about organising the second edition of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had undertaken the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir from 7 September 2022, to 30 January this year.

The Congress leaders have said the 136-day march, covering 4,081 kilometres in 12 states and two Union territories, 75 districts and 76 Lok Sabha constituencies, left an indelible impression on people's minds.

During the course of the yatra, Gandhi addressed 12 public meetings, more than 100 street-corner meetings and 13 press conferences. He had over 275 planned walking interactions and more than 100 sitting interactions.

Several experts had said a big takeaway from the yatra for the Congress had been Gandhi's image transformation. With over 4,000 kilometres under his belt, Gandhi had managed to catch the attention of his supporters as well as detractors.

The march saw participation from a cross-section of society, including film and TV celebrities such as Kamal Haasan, Pooja Bhatt, Riya Sen, Swara Bhasker, Rashami Desai, Akanksha Puri and Amol Palekar.

Besides, writers and military veterans, including former Army chief Gen (retd) Deepak Kapoor and ex-Navy chief admiral (retd) L Ramdas, and other distinguished citizens such as former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and ex-finance secretary Arvind Mayaram had also participated in the yatra.

Opposition leaders such as National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, Shiv Sena's Aaditya Thackeray, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Sanjay Raut and NCP's Supriya Sule, had also walked alongside Gandhi at various points in time during the march.