Actor, filmaker and Makkal Needhi Maiam president Kamal Haasan on Sunday, December 18, said he would take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on December 24 in Delhi. According to the party, Haasan, addressing office bearers in Chennai, said he has been invited by Rahul Gandhi to participate in the Yatra. MNM spokesperson Murali Appas told PTI that party workers, led by their leader Haasan, would take part in the Rahul Gandhi-led foot march in the national capital.
"Our leader made the announcement addressing office-bearers," he said. Chaired by Haasan, MNM's administrative and executive committee and district secretaries meeting was held in Chennai on Sunday.
The Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is currently in Rajasthan, will enter Delhi on December 24. It will then be on break for about eight days beforing moving on to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and finally, Jammu and Kashmir. The yatra resumed from Dausa in Rajasthan on Sunday after a day's break, with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior leader Sachin Pilot walking alongside Rahul Gandhi.
The yatra, which was launched on September 7 in Kanyakumari has traversed eight states Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and now, Rajasthan. It completed 100 days on Friday. It has seen participation from a cross-section of society, including film and TV celebrities such as Pooja Bhatt, Riya Sen, Sushant Singh, Swara Bhasker, Rashami Desai, Akanksha Puri and Amol Palekar.
Besides members of the film industry, writers, military veterans, including former Navy chief admiral L Ramdas, Opposition leaders such as Shiv Sena's Aaditya Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)'s Supriya Sule, and former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan, have also joined the march at various points.