Alappuzha: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi along with party leaders and workers resumed the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' entering its twelfth day from Punnapra Aravukad, Alappuzha, on Monday, September 19.  Till now, more than 200 kilometres have been covered. The Congress leaders had earlier resumed the Kerala leg of the yatra on Sunday morning from Haripad in the Alappuzha district. At the Sree Kuruttu Bhagavathi Temple in Thottappally, the padyatra will stop. The yatra will stop at TD Medical College and Hospital, Vandanam, in the evening. 

The Yatra is currently in the state of Alapuzaha and will continue there for the next 12 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 moving 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 without delay. 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), who referred to it as a "goonda yatra" and blasted Congress over the issue.

Shehzad Poonawalla, a BJP spokesperson, claimed in an interview with ANI that the Congress party is using thugs all over the nation as part of its Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The yatra, aims to to combat exploitation, Rahul Gandhi said. "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 swaid 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.
The goal 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 said. 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 numerous 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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