As the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Haryana at the crack of dawn on Wednesday after a successful show in Rajasthan, a new hurdle cropped up in the form of Covid-19 scare.

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who had written to Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday to observe Covid protocol or stop the Yatra, said on Wednesday: “I cannot neglect my duty of stopping potential Covid spread just because one family perhaps believes it’s above the rules.... No one is entitled to special treatment.”

The reference to the “family” was a taunt at the Nehru-Gandhi family even as countless people over the last 105 days have participated in the Yatra that the BJP has targeted with allegations, innuendoes and ridicule.

Though the Yatra continued on Wednesday, the national capital was abuzz with rumours about an abrupt end before it entered Delhi on December 24. If the Narendra Modi government orders the termination of the Yatra at this stage, the Congress may not be unduly perturbed as the Yatra has already served its political purpose.

Having walked from south to north, Rahul has already succeeded in sending out a powerful message about his own persona as well as his politics. Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh, however, confronted the government, wondering whether the Covid protocol had been reinforced in the country or only the Bharat Jodo Yatra was being selectively targeted.

Ramesh said: “The Union health minister writes to Rahul Gandhi on the basis of a letter sent to him by a BJP MP from Rajasthan who alleges that the Bharat Jodo Yatra has not been following Covid protocols. This MP’s letter was sent following the enormous success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in his state.”

Ramesh said: “Parliament is meeting normally. Masks are no longer compulsory anywhere, including on flights. The BJP has taken out yatras in Rajasthan and Karnataka. There has been no advisory from the Centre to states of late except the one issued yesterday on genome sequencing. It also bears recall that in March 2020, the Modi government delayed imposition of lockdown by at least a week to enable the toppling of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.”

He added: “Public health is far too serious an issue on which to play party politics. If there is a protocol for gatherings, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will abide by it undoubtedly.” The Centre on Wednesday advised people to wear masks in crowded places but no Covid-19 protocol was announced.

Nobody wore masks in the evening leg of the Yatra in Haryana despite massive crowds. While the situation in India is normal now, Modi had continued campaigning and mobilising massive crowds, during the elections in Bihar in October 2020 and Bengal in April last year when scores of people were dying of Covid in different states.

In Haryana, leaders like former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress chief Uday Bhan promised to ensure a better and bigger response to the Yatra than Rajasthan, which surpassed all other states in terms of crowds. Ramesh complained of bad roads in Haryana, highlighting the failures of the BJP government in the state.

Hooda said the roads are full of potholes, making walking difficult. The Yatra passed through Mewat, which has been affected by communal riots for the last few years. Rahul met delegations of ex-servicemen and discussed several issues relating to the nation’s security, including Chinese threats and the ill-effects of the Agnipath scheme. Most of the retired soldiers and generals opposed the Agnipath scheme and supported the demand for a discussion on China.