Government coming up with excuses to stop Bharat Jodo Yatra, says Rahul Gandhi

“They wrote me a letter that Covid was spreading, stop the [Bharat Jodo] Yatra,” Gandhi said while addressing a gathering in Ghasera village in Haryana’s Nuh district

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the government is coming up with "excuses" to stop the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', days after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to him to consider suspending the march if Covid protocols could not be followed.

The yatra, which started in Kanyakumari on September 7 and will conclude in Kashmir, is in Haryana, after covering Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

"This yatra will go to Kashmir. Now, they have come out with a new idea. They wrote me a letter that Covid was spreading, stop the yatra," Gandhi said while addressing a gathering in Ghasera village in Haryana's Nuh district.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him entered the state through Nuh on Wednesday after its Rajasthan leg.

"Now, they are coming up with excuses to stop the yatra. Wear masks, stop the yatra, Covid is spreading, these are all excuses," he said.

Union Health Minister Mandaviya on Tuesday wrote to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to consider suspending the yatra if Covid protocols could not be followed.

Targeting the BJP, which is in power at the Centre and in Haryana, Gandhi said it is scared of the truth.