BHOPAL: Eyeing to return to power nearly three years after its 15-month-long government collapsed under the weight of its own disgruntled MLAs, the opposition Congress launched 'Jan Akrosh Yatras' ahead of the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh.
The march will collectively cover 11,400 km across all 230 assembly segments in 15 days. The march is said to be led by seven senior Congress leaders.
This comes at a time when the ruling BJP has been attacking the opposition’s INDIA bloc, particularly the Congress, over the DMK and Congress leader's anti-Sanatan Dharma remark.
Importantly, all the seven senior Congress leaders, including the leader of the opposition (LoP) Dr Govind Singh, former LoP Ajay Singh ‘Rahul,’ former union ministers Arun Yadav, Suresh Pachouri, and Kantilal Bhuria, Congress Working Committee member Kamleshwar Patel and former MP minister Jitu Patwari started the Yatras after offering prayers at prominent Hindu temples in different parts of the state, state Congress’s media advisor Piyush Babele told this newspaper.
Importantly, LoP Dr Govind Singh, the seven-time MLA from Lahar (Bhind), who has been a sworn socialist, started the Yatra after offering prayers at the Ganesh temple in the Sheopur district of the Gwalior-Chambal region.
On the other hand former LoP Ajay Singh ‘Rahul’ started the Yatra from Rewa district of Vindhya region, after offering prayers at Shiva and Ganesh temples. Also, former union minister and ex-state Congress chief Arun Yadav began the Yatra from the Damoh district of Bundelkhand region after praying at the Jageshwar Nath Temple of Lord Shiva, while CWC member Kamleshwar Patel started the Yatra from Singrauli district of Vindhya region with prayers at a Ganesh, Shiva and Hanuman temples.
Posting about the seven Yatras on social media portal X, the state Congress president Kamal Nath said, “On the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, Congress Party is starting its Jan Aakrosh Yatras. The purpose of these yatras is to express the pain and suffering of the oppressed people due to the misrule of Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government for 18 years.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP’s 10,500-plus km long five Jan Ashirwad Yatras are approaching their last stretch.
At a time when the BJP hasn’t decided the CM face for MP, the Uttarakhand CM while praising the policies of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, appealed to people in Bina town of Sagar district to ensure that Chouhan becomes CM again, to keep Bhrastachar Nath-faced Ravana (possibly referring to Kamal Nath) away from power in MP.
While attacking the Congress and INDIA bloc leaders over the anti-Sanatan Dharma remarks, Dhami told the people of MP, about how his government had started a crackdown against ‘Land Jihad’ by freeing 3300 acres of land and implementing the uniform civil code (UCC) soon in Uttarakhand.
In Betul district, meanwhile, former Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi formed part of the BJP’s Yatra, accusing the Congress of treating the tribal just as a vote bank.
“Despite ruling the country for decades, the Congress has seen tribals just as vote banks, while the BJP has worked for their focussed welfare. It was during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government that a separate union ministry for tribal affairs was formed, while during the Narendra Modi-led regime at the center, as many as eight tribal leaders have been made part of the council of ministers," Marandi said.