The Congress on Thursday rebranded senior leader Rahul Gandhi’s upcoming march as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and said it will cover 6,700 kms over 66 days, widening the political messaging and scope of the event ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi will travel through 100 Lok Sabha constituencies across 110 districts and cover 1,074 kms in Uttar Pradesh over 11 days—the highest among the 15 states on its route. Arunachal Pradesh was also included in the yatra, which will begin on January 14.

Also read: YS Sharmila merges party with Congress, says ‘father’s dream to see Rahul Gandhi PM’

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge announced the changes at a meeting of party general secretaries, in-charges, state unit presidents and legislative leaders in Delhi on Thursday.

“Bharat Nyay Yatra will start from East to West from 14th January under the leadership of Rahul Gandhiji. This journey from Manipur to Mumbai will end on 20 March 2024. This yatra will create public awareness on social justice and basic questions of the people like inflation, unemployment, poor condition of farmers and labourers, increasing gap between rich and poor and caste census etc. We are confident that it will bring the issues of social justice to the centre of the national discussion.”

B Srivatsa and KB Byju — two trusted aides of Rahul Gandhi — gave a presentation on the route and other details of the proposed yatra, including the expanded route covering 100 Lok Sabha seats and 337 assembly seats.

The original plan was to cover 14 states and 85 districts. Under the revised plan, the yatra will cover 15 states and 110 districts over 66 days, up from the earlier time period of 55 days. Shahikant Senthil gave a road map on how to set up war rooms in states while party’s media head Pawan Khera’s presentation focussed on taking the Congress campaign to the last person.

“It was decided to add Arunachal Pradesh in the route as the Congress had originally planned to do the second phase of Bharat Jodo Yatra from Pasighat to Porbandar,” said a leader, requesting anonymity. Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who briefed the participants on the yatra, later said, “We always had Arunachal Pradesh in our mind.”

The yatra, which comes a year after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, will start at 12 noon at Imphal on January 14. Despite the security concerns in Manipur, the Congress said that it was not considering changing the yatra that will primarily be carried out on bus. Gandhi will address two gatherings daily and the yatra will have some short breaks. A total of 55 Congress leaders will accompany Gandhi throughout the yatra, said people aware of developments.

The Congress has given top priority to Uttar Pradesh, where it holds only one of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. Gandhi will spend 11 days and cover 1,074 kms in the state. The yatra will spend eight days in both Assam and Jharkhand, and seven in Madhya Pradesh, where the party lost assembly elections last month. Gandhi’s bus will spend five days each in Gujarat, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, the party announced.

Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Gujarat were not covered in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Out of the 15 states, the Congress doesn’t have any CM of its own, and shares power in alliance in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Shehanshah Ke Farmaan’ jibe at Centre over truck drivers protest

In the meeting, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Sngh Hooda was among the first ones who demanded that “Bharat Jodo” phrase should be incorporated in the Yatra. The idea found support from all leaders and many argued that people connect with Bharat Jodo and it is a popular name of the yatra. “Leaders felt that BJY has become a brand that is embedded in minds of people and we should not lose the brand,” Jairam Ramesh said later, adding that nyay (justice) is the objective of the yatra.

Some leaders also suggested that the yatra should cover Gujarat’s Porbandar just as it has included Arunachal Pradesh. “But the idea was not accepted as it would take another 8-9 days and we don’t have enough time,” said a leader requesting anonymity.