New Delhi: To "strengthen" its message of "harmony and equality," the Congress has invited 24 like-minded parties to take part in the concluding event of its "Bharat Jodo Yatra" in Srinagar on January 30. The invitation was conveyed to party leaders this evening by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. The Trinamool Congress, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party, the CPM, Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party are among the organisations that have been invited.
"At this event, we commit ourselves to fighting hatred and violence, to spread the message of truth, compassion and non-violence and to defend the constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice for all," Kharge's letter read.
Jairam Ramesh, a senior party official and its chief of communications, tweeted Kharge's letter.
Along its 3750-kilometre journey through the states, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is being headed by Rahul Gandhi, has drawn support from numerous like-minded parties and prominent members of the public and show business.
But several opposition parties have shunned it; their absence highlights the complex differences in the camp, a year before the national elections.
Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, Mayawati, and the Aam Aadmi Party of Delhi's chief minister, stayed absent in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. As the march moved through Telangana, the state's ruling party, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, did as well.
Currently, the yatra is in Punjab after Rahul Gandhi paid his respects at the Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib yesterday.
Leaders of the National Conference, Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party, and the local chapter of Congress ally Shiv Sena will participate in the march in Jammu & Kashmir. Another Gupkaar Alliance member, MY Tarigami of CPI, will be present.