Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra, on Wednesday walked along with the families of people, who donated their body parts, to emphasise on organ donation, the party said.
It said 33 'yatris' marching with the former Congress president have pledged their eyes for donation.
Organ donors, whose family members walked with Rahul Gandhi, were: late National Film Award-winning Best Actor Sanchari Vijay who died in a motorcycle accident; Rakshitha, a PUC student from Chikkamagaluru district, who suffered a head injury after falling off a bus; and Veda Manjunath, who had an accident on the Hubballi-Dharwad bypass Highway.
Later in a post on his Facebook page, Rahul Gandhi said he had the privilege of walking with the brave-heart families of these organ donors, and they personify resilience, empathy, and humanity.
"It was not their age to go. Rakshitha, Veda and Vijay went too soon. Even in death, they gifted meaning and happiness to others by donating their organs to save lives. A beautiful gesture of love and sacrifice! It is the human spirit of care and compassion that we must nurture and cherish. It is too precious to be lost to the hateful and greedy ploys of a few," he said.
Noting that Kannada thespian late Dr Rajkumar and his late actor-son Puneeth Rajkumar's similar selfless acts of donating their eyes inspired millions of Kannadigas and others, and raised awareness on the importance of organ donation, Rahul Gandhi said, "I feel immensely proud to tell you all that 33 Bharat Yatris have pledged to donate their eyes from this beautiful land of Karnataka."
"There is boundless love and joy in the spirit of harmony, brotherhood, and humanity," he added.
The yatra on its 35th day began at Challakere and traversed through the historic Chitradurga district today.