Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his party are gearing up for the 150-day ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ that starts on September 7. The ambitious 3,500-km yatra (journey) is one of the longest and biggest community outreach programs seen in the country, and certainly one of the biggest from the grand-old party of India. But Congress is not the only party to undertake such yatras for political reasons.

Starting from Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March, political leaders have leveraged the power of yatras to drum up support, meet the masses and establish themselves as leaders of the people.

Here are some leaders who have undertaken some of the longest yatras in the country.

LK Advani

One of the founding members, chief architects and prominent leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, LK Advani has taken numerous political yatras for his cause. But perhaps the one he would be best known for is the 10,000 km long Ram Rath Yatra which was meant to garner support for the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue as well as mobilise the Hindu-voting bloc for the BJP. But this yatra was not Advani’s longest. The Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra, which started on 18 May 1997 and covered 15,000 km, was the longest Advani took part in.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

In the run-up to the state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh this year, the Congress had launched a 12,000 km yatra across the state’s 403 constituencies, which was helmed by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

Ahead of the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the chief of YSRCP, travelled 3,648 km by foot across the state for 241 days. The leader started the ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’ in 2017, interacting with over 2 ‘crore people and travelling 15-30 km each day.

YS Rajasekhar Reddy

Father of Jagan Mohan Reddy, YS Rajasekhar Reddy, had used yatras to lead the Congress to electoral victory. Rajasekhar had undertaken the 1,400-km padyatra in April 2003 ahead of state elections.

Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the leaders who participated in the 1991 ‘Ekta Yatra’ from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

First Published:Aug 31, 2022 7:42 AM IST