Rahul leads foot march on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday led a foot march here to mark the start of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary celebrations and to give a message against what the party called the "atmosphere of fear" in the country.

Congress leaders like K C Venugopal, R P N Singh, state unit president Ashok Chavan, Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and others joined Rahul Gandhi as he began the march after garlanding a statue of the Father of the Nation near the district collector's office here.

The march culminated at the Circus Ground (in Ramnagar locality) here, where the Congress president was set to address a rally.

Rahul Gandhi walked for around 50 minutes before reaching the rally venue, a Congress leader said.

The party leadership has converged at the Sevagram village, located around 10 km from Wardha district headquarters, to attend the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party.

The Congress is seeking return to power at the centre and also in Maharashtra following its drubbing at the hands of the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls.