'Everyone should join Bharat jodo Yatra to safeguard Indian unity'

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K S Alagiri on Monday said that it is the duty of every citizen to take part in the Bharat Jodo yatra of Rahul Gandhi to safeguard the freedom, sovereignty, Constitution and democracy of the country.

Making a fervent appeal to the citizens to join the yatra, which is an attempt to realise and feel the country, Alagiri said, “Rahul Gandhi will meet the people of villages, small towns and cities, understand their miseries and find a solution to the same.”

Stating that farmers and labourers were drowning in debt, but the nation’s assets were being sold to large industrialists availing concessions, the TNCC chief said, “People are divided on caste, religious, linguistic and culinary lines. Conspiracies are being hatched daily to trigger conflict between people. Insecurity among women has increased.”

Wondering if a divided society could be strong, the state Congress president said that political voices and Constitutional rights of the people are being crushed. Alleging that attempts are being made to destroy higher institutions, mock democracy and destroy the brotherhood and unity among people, Alagiri said that the ruling BJP was attempting to divide India on the basis of RSS ideology. “Every citizen has the duty to unite a divided India. It is the need of the hour for every citizen to join Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat jodo yatra if they want the country’s freedom, sovereignty, Constitution and democratic institutions safeguarded, ” he added.

Charging the BJP-led Centre with usurping the Constitutionally guaranteed rights of the states in the concurrent list, the TNCC chief urged people to join the unity rally which would be a major turning point in Indian political history.

Claiming that the loans to the tune of Rs 11 lakh crore have been waived for corporates in the last eight years, while Rs 27 lakh crore has been collected through fuel tax from ordinary citizens whose average per capita income fell by Rs 1,500, Alagiri sought to know if there could be a bigger corruption than 85% of the electoral bonds from corporate donors going to the BJP.