Rahul Gandhi pays tribute to Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday paid tribute to his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at her memorial Shakti Sthal here in the national capital.

The former Congress president also paid a tribute to his father and another former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at Veer Bhumi, a memorial dedicated to the latter.

Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the over 3,500-km long Kanyakumari to Kashmir "Bharat Jodo Yatra" since September 7, is in the national capital on a nine-day break.

The foot march will resume on January 3. Last week Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on refused to call the assassinations of the two former Prime Ministers as sacrifices made for the nation.

Mishra had reacted to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's "dog" remark, wherein Kharge in parliament reiterate that Congress leaders had sacrificed their lives for the country "did BJP leaders do the same". Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the national capital on December 24. The rally entered southeast Delhi's Badarpur from Faridabad in Haryana.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi also joined the yatra for the first time as Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra also walked alongside hundreds of others as the march headed to the Red Fort. Makkal Needhi Maiam president and veteran actor Kamal Haasan also joined in the yatra on December 24 in Delhi.

The foot march marked its 100 days on December 23 in Rajasthan. Several Bollywood stars including Pooja Bhatt, Riteish Deshmukh, Swara Bhaskar and Riya Sen have already participated in the yatra.

Apart from Rajasthan, the Bharat Jodo Yatra has covered parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana.

It is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in the history of the nation, the Congress has claimed. With this Yatra, Rahul Gandhi aims to mobilise the party cadre and unite the general public against the BJP's "divisive politics in the country".