Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Congress leaders including former chief minister Siddaramaiah welcomed on Friday former Congress president Rahul Gandhi as Bharat Jodo Yatra enters Karnataka, first BJP-ruled state on its 23rd day.
According to the reports, Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders along with party supporters had gathered in the Tiger Reserve Forest near Kekkanahalli at the Karnataka border.
But Siddaramaiah stopped his vehicle and welcomed Rahul Gandhi in the Tiger Reserve Forest along with former ministers and senior Congress leaders Mahadevappa, K.J. George and others. Notably, the forest department had denied permission for the padayatra in the reserve forest and had given permission to travel by car only. Hence, forest rules were violated in the process, it is reported.
Rahul Gandhi will participate in a convention organised at Gundlupet town before the launch of the 21-day Bharat Jodo Yatra through Karnataka. The party has arranged lunch for 30,000 party workers in the Veeranapura village, reports IANS.
Rahul Gandhi will walk for four kilometers after the convention on the National Highway before halting for lunch. He will interact with Adivasis and families of victims who died due to lack of oxygen in Chamarajanagar district hospital during Covid-19 pandemic.
The padayatra will resume at 4 p.m. near Bendakalli Gate, and at 7 p.m. the first day’s yatra will end at Begur village.
