The Uttar Pradesh leg of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has been rescheduled and shortened due to the ongoing UP Board exams. UPCC chief Ajay Rai said that the yatra would now enter UP on February 16 instead of February 14, and exit on February 22/23 instead of the earlier plan of February 27/28.
The yatra will skip western UP and instead head to Bundelkhand. While a revised plan will be released shortly, it will continue with its primary itinerary from Chandauli to Lucknow. After entering Chandauli, the yatra will head to Varanasi and traverse through Bhadohi, Prayagraj and Pratapgarh before entering Amethi. Rae Bareli and Lucknow are the next stops.
As per the plan, the yatra will cover Amethi and Rae Bareli on February 19. However, instead of heading to Sitapur from Lucknow, it will now proceed to Kanpur and then to Jhansi from where it would enter Madhya Pradesh. There may be inclusions between Kanpur and Jhansi.
“The alterations have been made in the wake of logistical issues. The places where cadres and organisers were supposed to stay are usually private schools or colleges which will now be reserved for the board exams,” Rai said. The deletion of western UP from Rahul's itinerary is significant since it comes soon after RLD snapped ties with INDIA bloc.
The Congress now has very limited presence in western UP and the party also does not have any leader of substance in the region. "We do not want to send a message that Rahul's presence in a particular area did not help us win seats," said a senior leader
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