Gujarat Congress launches Nyay Yatra

Demanding justice for the victims of the Morbi bridge collapse, the Rajkot fire, and other man-made disasters under BJP rule, the Congress party launched a 15-day nyay yatra from Morbi to Gandhinagar on Friday.

The objective of the yatra is to seek justice for the victims of incidents such as the Morbi bridge collapse, the Rajkot game zone fire, the Takshashila fire incident, and the Harni Lake tragedy in Gujarat, as well as to hold the accused accountable, the Congress wrote on X.

"In order to ensure that mishaps like the Morbi Bridge to Rajkot fire incident do not occur again in Gujarat and victim families get justice, the nyay padyatra (march for justice) was organised from Morbi to Gandhinagar," the state's leader of the Congress legislative party Amit Chavda wrote on X.

The day holds profound significance in India's freedom struggle, as it was on 9 August 1942 that Mahatma Gandhi called for civil disobedience against British rule.

The yatra follows party MP and Lok Sabha leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's recent statement in Ahmedabad, where he asserted that "a new Congress will emerge from Gujarat... we will teach them [BJP] a lesson", in response to clashes between Congress and BJP workers after his remarks on Hinduism in the Lok Sabha.

The yatra is seen as part of Congress' efforts to regain power in Gujarat, where the party has been out of office since its last Assembly election victory in 1995.

According to the Gujarat Congress, the yatra will address the Harni boat capsize in Vadodara and the Takshashila fire in Surat. It will also highlight the tragedies of the TRP Game Zone fire in Rajkot, which claimed 27 lives, and the Morbi bridge collapse, which resulted in 134 deaths.

Congress leaders have been in contact with the families of the victims from all four incidents, and they will be joining the yatra, according to the Gujarat Congress. Approximately 100 participants are expected to walk the entire route from Morbi to Gandhinagar, with the yatra concluding in Gandhinagar by 22 or 23 August.