Jharkhand Congress started its second leg of the state-level Bharat Jodo Yatra from Barwadih in Jharkhand’s Latehar district on Thursday.

Former Union minister and convenor of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jharkhand, Subodh Kant Sahay along with state Congress president Rajesh Thakur and state agriculture minister Badal Patralekh were the prominent leaders who joined in the Yatra which traversed for nearly 11km in Latehar.

“The objective is to highlight the objective for which the Bharat Jodo Yatra is being organised by Rahul Gandhi ji among masses in Jharkhand. It would be held across all the 81 Assembly constituencies in the state and held in different panchayats and polling booths. We would also highlight how the BJP government at Centre is trying to destabilise a democratically elected government in Jharkhand through misuse of federal agencies,” said Rajesh Thakur.

Congress state spokesperson Rakesh Sinha said that the second phase would continue till December 31.

“The second phase will continue till December 31 across the state. We have invited the newly elected party national president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leader Digvijay Singh, Congress general secretary in-charge communications and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh to join the Yatra at some stage in Jharkhand. We expect a confirmation from their end soon,” said Sinha.

Significantly, the 3,500-km Yatra march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will be completed in 150 days and cover as many as 12 states which began from September 7 does not cover the eastern states, including Jharkhand.

According to the Congress, the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and to awaken the people of the country to the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarisation, and political centralisation.

Incidentally, Congress state president had held a virtual meeting with assembly constituency level in-charges of the party, district presidents and state spokesperson on Wednesday for the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. All the officials were asked to send the route charts of their respective areas to the party headquarters in Ranchi after coordinating with block level presidents.

The first phase of the Bharat Jodo Yatra which began on September 7 had to be halted mid-way in October due to festivity.