Bharat Jodo Yatra witnesses all-women walk; Rahul meets Tikait in Haryana

The "Bharat Jodo Yatra" of the Congress party witnessed an all-women walk for a major stretch of its journey on Monday.

The foot march entered Haryana's Kurukshetra district from Karnal on Sunday.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the yatra, met several farm union leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, at Kurukshetra and listened to their concerns.

The march resumed from Khanpur Kolian here in the morning and reached Ambala in the evening where it halted for the night.

Thousands of women participated in the yatra.

Addressing a corner meeting in Ambala, Gandhi said Monday's march was dedicated to women.

The yatra was warmly welcomed by 50 women in Tyoda village in Kurukshetra's Shahabad.

Gandhi met some of the family members of the farmers, including women farmers, who died during a year-long protest against three agricultural laws of the Centre, according to a statement issued by the Haryana Congress.

The laws have since been repealed.

The representatives of various farmers' organisations from across the country, including Haryana, discussed their problems with Gandhi in detail, including their demand that the government should give a guarantee on a minimum support price for crops.

According to the statement, the farmer leaders also accused the Centre of not honouring its written agreement made during the anti-farm laws movement.

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, state Congress in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil, state Congress chief Uday Bhan and MP Deepender Hooda were also present when Gandhi listened to the farmers' concerns.

Representatives of various farmers' organisations, including Tikait, Yudhveer Singh, Virendra Narwal, Prahlad Barukheda, Mandeep Nathwan, Joginder Nain, Rajbala, Deepak Lamba, Tejveer, Jagdeep Aulakh, Jogendra Tiger, besides Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, were present during Gandhi's interaction with the farmers, the statement said.

Some students of a government girls' high school from Hisar also met Gandhi and put forward some of their concerns, it added.

The yatra would halt for the night at the new grain market of Ambala Cantonment.

During the Haryana leg of the yatra, Gandhi is being accompanied by senior Congress leaders, including Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Deepender Singh Hooda and Bhan.

A large number of people joined the march as it passed through Kurukshetra.

The yatra covered more than 130 kilometres in its first leg in Haryana from December 21 to 23, passing through Nuh, Gurugram and Faridabad districts. It re-entered Haryana through Panipat on Thursday evening from Uttar Pradesh.

The yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will conclude in Srinagar by January 30, with Gandhi hoisting the national flag in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

The march has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.