Won’t take part in Bharat Jodo Yatra concluding event on Jan 30 as we’ve planned another program, JD-U tells Congress

Patna (Bihar) [India], January 26 (ANI): The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) informed the Congress that it would not be able to take part in the concluding event of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar on January 30 as it has planned another event on that day.

In a reply to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s invitation to turn up at the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s concluding event, JD-U national president Lalan Singh wrote that he will not be present at the event as he has to attend the launching of the party’s election campaign at Wokha in Nagaland on the same day. “Thank you for the letter inviting me to the concluding event of the Bharat Jodo Yatra to be held on January 30, 2023, at Srinagar. I have carefully gone through the contents of your letter and share the sentiments you have expressed therein. There are no two opinions that there is a decline in democratic values in the country and that the ‘Constitutional institutions that are supposed to ensure checks and balances on unrestrained executive power are being systematically destroyed. Much as I would like to be present at the historic event, I regret my inability to do so, as I need to be present at the launching of the party’s election campaign at Wokha in Nagaland on the same day,” Lalan Singh said in the letter.

However, the JD-U president in his letter pitched for a united opposition and believed that the Padyatra will help in formulating joint strategies in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“I sincerely believe the Bharat Jodo Yatra has also given me an opportunity to study, experience and sense the mood and anxieties of the people first-hand, which I am sure will go a long way in helping us formulate joint strategies in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” the letter added.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started in Kanyakumari on September 7, will conclude on January 30 in Srinagar after covering 3,970 km, 12 states and two Union territories. (ANI)