Kollam-Kerala: Kollam: As the Congress party's Bharat Jodo Yatra entered its tenth day, party leaders led by the former party president began the march from Puthiyakavu on Friday, September 17. Rahul Gandhi stated that the march is a fight for fair salaries, protection against exploitation, and safeguarding social society.
Jairam Ramesh tweeted, Interactions with youth on unemployment and children from special school planned during the break at Kayamkulam" 

Today's yatra got underway at 6:40 am. from Puthiyakavu in the Kollam district. Congress claims that following an 11-kilometer march in the morning session, the yatra will reach the Alappuzha district. During the break, there will be a discussion about unemployment with young people in Kayamkulam. The Yatra is currently in the state of Kerala and will continue there for the next 13 days.

The 3,500 km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will take 150 days to complete and pass through up to 12 states. The Yatra will depart from Kerala and travel through the state for the following 18 days before arriving in Karnataka on September 30. Before travelling further north, it will spend 21 days in Karnataka. Every day, the Padyatra (march) will travel 25 kilometres.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress, meantime, was dogged by controversy after a video of local Congress leaders reportedly extorting money from a vegetable vendor in Kollam, Kerala, surfaced. A vegetable store owner in Kollam allegedly received threats from Congress members for failing to donate Rs. 2,000 to the effort to raise money for the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The owner of a vegetable shop in Kollam, S. Fawaz, said that Congress employees had destroyed vegetables and damaged the shop's weighing machine. He further claimed that the Congress workers wrecked havoc and assaulted the shop's employees. In response, the Kerala Congress suspended three party members on Friday.

"Three party employees who were complicit in a despicable incident in Kollam have been suspended immediately. They do not reflect our ideas, and their actions are unacceptable. Unlike other parties who receive corporate donations, the party is raising tiny amounts of money through crowdfunding "K Sudhakaran, the president of the Kerala Congress, stated in a tweet.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is now being led by Rahul Gandhi, has drawn criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has referred to it as a "goonda yatra" and criticised Congress over the issue.

Shehzad Poonawalla, a BJP spokesperson, claimed today that the Congress party is using goons all throughout the nation in the guise of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Rahul Gandhi said the Bharato Jodo yatra is a fight against exploitation."Fair wages, security from exploitation, access to health care, guaranteed pensions, and social security. The Bharat Jodo Yatra is fighting for all of this and more "Gandhi sad in a tweet.

The "Bharat Jodo Yatra,"  is being organised to challenge the BJP-led Centre's divisive policies and to make the nation's citizens aware of the risks of economic inequality, social polarisation, and political centralization, he said. The aim of the Bharat Jodo Yatra  is to unite Indians, regardless of their faith or community, and to remind people that this is one nation that will succeed if we stand together and show respect for one another, Rahul Gandhi added.

Senior Congress officials including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will later attend the Yatra's padayatras, rallies, and public meetings.

Notably, Rahul Gandhi and all of the party's MPs, leaders, and employees are remaining put. Some of the containers even have AC units, toilets, and sleeping mattresses. There will be many different climate and environmental conditions along the way. The arrangements were made with the new location's extreme heat and humidity in mind.

The assembly elections for this year's elections were a disaster for the Congress, and the Yatra is considered an effort to galvanize the party's base for the forthcoming elections.

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