‘Rajya yatris’ to wear only white khadi: UPCC

LUCKNOW: The ‘yatris’ who will join Bharat Jodo Yatra when it enters Uttar Pradesh, have been instructed to wear only white khadi (hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth) during the journey.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) has asked all district/city units to select 100 ‘rajya yatris’ (state yatris) each who will take part in the campaign, which is expected to enter the state in January first week.

“The (Bharat Jodo) yatra will enter the state in the first week of January. For this, ‘rajya yatris’ will have to be nominated from across the state, and they will be a part of the yatra till it remains in Uttar Pradesh. All rajya yatris will mandatorily wear white khadi. Arrangements will be made for their stay and food also. They will be given certificates, too,” said UPCC chief Brijlal Khabri in a circular, dated November 30, issued to all the office-bearers and district/city party units.

UPCC, with nearly 130 district/ city units and 150 office-bearers, has proposed to select more than 10,000 ‘rajya yatris’. About 150 ‘Bharat yatris’, including a contingent of leaders from the state, are accompanying Bharat Jodo Yatra that commenced from Kanyakumari on September 7. A large contingent of ‘atithi yatris’ (guest yatris) is also expected to join the campaign, apart from the Bharat yatris and state yatris. A pro forma requiring age, caste and mobile number, along with name and address of the ‘rajya yatris’, has been issued to all the office bearers and district/city units.

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was initially scheduled to enter the state on December 24. The yatra’s website indicates that it may enter U.P. somewhere near Bulandshahr from Rajasthan.

The yatra’s route is reportedly being tweaked to ensure that it enters U.P. from Ghaziabad in the first week of January and covers some districts of west UP before leaving the state for its onward journey.