THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: 75-year-old Digvijaya Singh, former Madhya Pradesh CM and Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign committee chairman, has been accompanying Rahul Gandhi on his padayatra right from Kanyakumari on foot.
When a large number of state Congress leaders, except MP K Muraleedharan and UDF convener M M Hassan, are relying on their cars, Digvijaya Singh and wife Amrita Rai are an exception.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala who has been accompanying Rahul Gandhi on foot and sometimes in his car gave yoga tips to padayatris who faced aches due to brisk walking.
Clad in a Gandhi cap and the traditional white khadi kurta and pyjama, Digviyaya was seen treading the padayatra effortlessly a little distance behind Rahul. Showing no hurry to be in the front row, he ensures that he does not come under the media glare.
But the way in which Digvijaya walks shows that this is not the first time he has undertaken an arduous padayatra beating the high humidity of Kerala.
He told TNIE that he has got a rich experience of walking 3,300km Narmada Parikrama Yatra (NPY) through Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra during October 2017-April 2018.
“I have to keep myself fit as I have a wife (former TV news anchor) who is 23 years younger than me! Jokes apart, we are enjoying the yatra in Kerala. We will be leaving for New Delhi on Tuesday night as I have to organise the BJY in other states. But we will be back in Kerala on September 19,” he said.
Another central leader who is accompanying Rahul is national general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal who is a “one-man silent army”. But the two state leaders who have stolen the heart of Rahul are 74-year-old Hassan and 65-year-old Muraleedharan.
Hassan told TNIE that though he has been a prolific morning walker, padayatra has been an entirely unique experience.
“Rahul Gandhi is very cool and jovial. His stamina is astounding and on certain occasions, he slowed down so that I could catch up with him. My initial idea was that I would traverse with him in the Thiruvananthapuram district alone. But now I have decided to join him on the first day in each district,” said Hassan.
But Muraleedharan has decided to accompany Rahul throughout the padayatra until it crosses to Karnataka from Nilambur.