Bharat Jodo Yatra resumes in UP, to enter Haryana in the evening

The Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed its journey around 6 am on Thursday after halting for the night at Ailum village here, with scores of people carrying the Tricolour marching through the hinterland, despite bitting cold.

Former party chief Rahul Gandhi reached the village from Delhi ahead of the resumption of the march, Congress Uttar Pradesh unit spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said.

The march is expected to enter into Panipat in Haryana by Thursday evening, ending its journey in the politically crucial state that sends 80 members to Lok Sabha.

Gandhi, who was again seen wearing a white T-shirt that he has sported for much of the journey, was accompanied by senior Congress leaders such as former Union minister Jairam Ramesh and the party's state chief Brijlal Khabri

Scores of people carrying the Tricolour joined the yatra as it made its way through Shamli district.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, will end with the hoisting of the national flag by Rahul Gandhi in Srinagar on January 30.

On Wednesday, local leaders and activists, including Rampal Dhama, the district unit chief of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, an ally of the Samajwadi Party, joined the yatra in Baghpat.

The purpose of the yatra is to remove hatred and violence being spread in the country and to draw people's attention towards issues such as price rise and unemployment, Gandhi had said while addressing a 'nukkad sabha' (street corner meeting) at Baraut on the Baghpat-Shamli border.

The yatra entered Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday through Ghaziabad's Loni border after a nine-day break.

The march has so far covered nine states and one Union Territory -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi.