Bharat Jodo Yatra proceeds to Shegaon in its last leg in Maharashtra

The Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress resumed from Balapur in Akola district on the 12th day of its Maharashtra leg on Friday morning and is heading towards Shegaon in Buldhana district, where Rahul Gandhi will address a public rally.

The yatra began at 6 am from a Zilla Parishad school at Kupta in Balapur. It will reach Shegaon during its morning break, where the Congress leader will visit the famous Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj temple. Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi joined Rahul Gandhi in the morning session of the yatra.

Rahul Gandhi waved at the crowds gathered along the route to greet him early morning and also interacted with them.

A public meeting will be addressed by Gandhi at Shegaon in the evening. The Congress has planned a show of strength at the rally with party workers from all over the state coming to attend it, its leaders said.

Gandhi had addressed a rally in Nanded last week.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, a mass contact initiative of the Congress, entered Maharashtra on November 7 in Nanded district after it began from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7. It has so far covered Nanded, Hingoli, Washim and Akola districts in Maharashtra.

This is the 72nd day of the yatra, which will enter Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh on November 20 night from Jalgaon Jamod in Buldhana district. The yatra will take a break on November 21, the party has said.

On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi had addressed a press conference at Wadegaon in Akola district, where he stepped up his attack on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, saying that he helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear. Earlier in Washim also, he had passed critical remarks against the freedom fighter.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction have denounced his statements, with their workers launching protests in parts of the state. Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads another faction of the Sena and whose party is in alliance with the Congress, also disapproved of Gandhi's remarks against Savarkar.