NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule are likely to welcome the Bharat Jodo Yatra when it enters Maharashtra next month, Congress sources said on Monday.
The Yatra will enter Maharashtra on November 9.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra started on September 7 and has completed over 500 km, with Rahul Gandhi along with several Congress leaders walking as 'Bharat Yatris' who will complete the 3,570 km journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
"Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and his MP daughter Supriya Sule have expressed their desire to welcome the Yatra when it enters Maharashtra. So they may welcome the Yatra when it enters the state on November 9," a party leader said on condition of anonymity.
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The leader also said the Congress will hold a rally in Karnataka's Bellary on October 15.
The Yatra will enter Andhra Pradesh on October 18 and will be in the state till October 21. It will then re-enter Karnataka's Raichur.
The Yatra will take a two-day Diwali break on October 24 and 25 and re-start on October 26 when it will enter Telangana.
Several sub-Bharat Jodo Yatras are also being organised in various states where the main Yatra is not passing through. A sub-Yatra is being held in Jharkhand from Monday, in Odisha from October 31, in Assam from November 1 and in West Bengal from December, among other states.
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Before the start of the Yatra, the Congress had invited all like-minded political parties and organizations to be a part of the initiative
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin was present in Kanyakumari at the start of the Yatra. Leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) participated in the Yatra in Kerala.
Congress sources said some leaders and workers of the Janata Dal (Secular) also participated in the Yatra in Karnataka.
Sources also said during the over one month-long period of the Yatra, Gandhi has interacted with over 500 people individually and in groups during the afternoon halt of the journey.
Gandhi on Saturday said he believes in "tapasya" and wants to talk to people on the ground and share their suffering while walking in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
At the end of the 31-day period of the Yatra, he had said it has been a wonderful and learning experience so far.
"I believe in 'tapasya', have always been. That is my nature and that has been my family's nature. I wanted an element of suffering for myself. I didn't want the communication with people to be easy. So I thought what would be something that would make me suffer, so that while I talk to my people I can share in their suffering," he said.
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"I find that a little bit and that was the idea. I find that to be a very powerful experience. When you are walking on the road and you are speaking to your people after having suffered a little bit the communication is better," Gandhi had said while sharing his experience so far during the Yatra.
(With PTI inputs)
