Aiming to give a wholehearted shot at the prospects of political revival and significance in the state to a certain degree, the Gujarat Congress is embarking upon a 15-day, 350-kilometre walkathon. Launched in the name of “Nyay Yatra” starts today from Morbi and will terminate at Gandhinagar. The yatra, the quintessential political tool in the Indian context, after Mahatma Gandhi used it to perfection during the Dandi march in 1930, is ostensibly to demand justice for the victims of a bridge collapse, fire tragedies, and boat accidents in the state that took hundreds of lives.
The March is not the only leaf out of Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom struggle book that the Gujarat Congress has picked up. The choice of the date to start the yatra is also another significant freedom struggle movement element. 9th August is one of the most important dates in the history of modern India, especially for Gujarat. Mahatma Gandhi launched the famous “Quit India” moment to oust the British on this day in 1924, which turned out to be the final nail in the coffin of colonialism in India. On the very day, the yet-to-be-18-year-old Gujarati patriot Vinod Kinariwala chose to be killed by the bullet of a British officer rather than dropping the Indian flag as ordered, in front of Gujarat College in Ahmedabad.
The Congress feeling re-energized by the Lok Sabha election results which had the BJP falling short of its projection, had Rahul Gandhi hoping to dislodge the BJP government In Gujarat in the coming assembly elections in 2027. The yatra comes within a month of Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the party office in Ahmedabad in support of the Congress workers after a clash with the BJP workers during a protest by the BJP’s youth in front of the Congress office which saw incidents of stone pelting.
Congress Seva Dal chief Lalji Desai, Gujarat Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil, and Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani will be leading the yatra. The yatra will culminate in Gandhinagar on 23 August after passing through Morbi, Rajkot, Chotila, Wadhwan, and Viramgam.
Gujarat has witnessed several accidents in recent years. In October 2022, 135 people were killed in Morbi where a suspension bridge collapsed. In January, 14 were killed in a boat that capsized in Vadodara’s Harni Lake and in June 27 people were killed in a fire at a gaming zone at Rajkot. Congress is trying to tap the public sentiment of government apathy and widespread perception about the unholy nexus of corrupt administrations and politicians having links with the ruling party. Congress said it wants to bring awareness among people that had there not been corruption so rampant, the tragedies would have been averted.
Gujarat Congress chief Shaktisinh Gohil said “This march highlights the series of devastating incidents that have impacted the state and the nation over the past two years. Through this initiative, the Congress hopes to bring justice to the affected families and address the issues facing Gujarat under the current administration.”
In Gujarat, Congress is pitted against the formidable rival BJP which not only is in power since 1995, winning seven consecutive elections but also enjoys tremendous goodwill in form of the PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah, both belonging to the state.
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