‘Invited 23 parties to join Yatra in Srinagar’: Jairam Ramesh on Congress' march

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Monday said that 23 political parties have been invited to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar on January 30. “I don't know how many of them have accepted the invitation but we expect all of them to come,” he told the news agency ANI. The march will enter Jammu and Kashmir on January 19 and conclude in Srinagar on January 30.

The Congress leader also called the Yatra a “mass movement”.

Also read: ‘Nation must be shown…’: Rahul Gandhi on why he started Bharat Jodo Yatra

Earlier this month, National Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah had joined Rahul Gandhi during the march. Sharing a video of Gandhi hugging Abdullah, Congress had said, “With this love and blessings, we will reach our goal… we have set out to unite the country, we will show it by uniting the country.”

Also watch: Sidhu Moose Wala's father joins Bharat Jodo Yatra, walks hand-in-hand with Rahul

Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra began on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and will conclude in Srinagar on January 30. So far, the Yatra has covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.

On Wednesday, the march entered Punjab and is passing through Mandi Gobindgarh, Khanna, Sahnewal, Ludhiana, Goraya, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Dasyua, and Mukerian. The party will hold a rally in Pathankot on January 19 before entering Jammu and Kashmir.

Reportedly, Gandhi will be walking three hours each in the morning and evening - covering 25 kilometers.

(With inputs from ANI)