'Bharat Jodo Yatra' LIVE : Rahul Gandhi leads march from Kanyakumari

As he commenced the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Tamil Nadu, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met the relatives of  S Anitha, the NEET aspirant, who died by suicide. The Congress leader expressed his condolences to the family. 

The 17-year old Scheduled Caste girl who had scored 1,176 out of 1,200 marks in her Class XII State Board examinations but was unable to join the MBBS course due to poor scores in NEET, had ended her life in Ariyalur district.

The march would cover 12 states and two Union Territories in about five months.

The march will move in two batches from 7 am to 10:30 am and from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm. While the morning session will include fewer participants, the evening session will see mass mobilisation. The participants plan to walk around 22-23 km daily. About 30 per cent of 'Bharat Yatris' are women. The average age of Bharat Yatris is 38.

About 50,000 citizens have also registered to participate in the Yatra.

After reaching Kerala on September 11, the Yatra will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north.

It will pass through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu, and end in Srinagar. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with several party leaders, embarked on the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from here on Thursday, marking the beginning of a challenging journey through which the party is seeking to reach out to people and rejuvenate its organisation.

Ahead of the start of the padyatra, Gandhi hoisted the national flag at the campsite of the Bharat Yatris, who will walk with him through the 3,570 km journey from Kanyakimari to Kashmir.

Gandhi began the padyatra from Agasteeswaram here, along with 118 'Bharat Yatris' as well as other party leaders from across the country.

After flagging off Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra today, Rahul Gandhi will start the foot march from Kanyakumari tomorrow at 7am

Rahul Gandhi has flagged off Congress party's nation-wide 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Kanyakumari. Gandhi is one of 119 Congress leaders who will march the entire route. 

The foot march will start at 7am on Thursday

Rahul Gandhi is sheduled to attend the launch event at 4:30PM in Kanyakumari where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel will be present.

Stalin will present a national flag made of khadi to Gandhi who will hand it over to Seva Dal workers who will manage the Yatra throughout.

'Bharat Jodo Yatra' will move in two batches – from 7 am to 10:30 am and from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm. While the morning session will include fewer participants, the evening session will see mass mobilisation. The participants plan to walk around 22 to 23 km daily.

Congress party's nation-wide foot march will cover 12 states and 2 union territories in 5 months. 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' will start from Kanyakumari and end in Srinagar. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday paid floral tributes to his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the latter's memorial in Sriperumbudur in Chennai, ahead of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' launch in Kanyakumari

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.