6700 km across 15 states: Rahul Gandhi kicks off Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday kicked off the party's mass outreach programme, Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, from Manipur's Thoubal. It aims to cover a distance of more than 6700 km across 15 states from Manipur to Mumbai ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Launching the Yatra, Rahul Gandhi came down heavily on the BJP over the recent ethnic clashes in the state that claimed scores of lives. 

He went on to say that "Manipur has lost what it holds precious because of BJP's politics" and said that "governance infrastructure has failed in Manipur, and shameful that PM hasn't visited the state" .

"I'm in politics since 2004 and for the first time I visited a place in India where the entire infrastructure of governance has collapsed," said Gandhi.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi jointly launched the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is seen as an attempt by the party to shape the narrative ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, which are just a few months away.

According to the route released by the party, the yatra will stay the longest in Uttar Pradesh, covering 1,074 km in 11 days.It would pass through politically vital areas, including Amethi, the Gandhi family bastion of Rae Bareli and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency of Varanasi. 

The yatra will traverse 6,713 km, mostly in buses but also on foot. It will cover 110 districts in 67 days, before culminating in Mumbai on March 20 or 21. Rahul Gandhi will address public gatherings and interact with civil society members and organisations twice a day during the yatra.