Maharashtra Congress Leaders Toning Up To Accompany Rahul’s Yatra

With Rahul Gandhi slated to enter Maharashtra on November 7 for his Bharat Jodo yatra, prominent state Congress leaders are busy making themselves fit enough to accompany him for whatever distance they can walk. Their adherence to a strict regimen of exercising over the past few days has attracted media attention after former energy minister Nitin Raut, who was with the yatra, collapsed last night and is undergoing treatment at a Hyderabad hospital. While one version says he just could not cope up with the strain, his supporters said he was pushed by someone in a crowd that had gathered to greet Rahul. Former chief minister Ashok Chavan has been taking brisk walks amidst his followers and security personnel. He is said to be walking 5km daily for the past few days. As Rahul enters Maharashtra in Nanded district at Deglur, it is Chavan who will welcome him first on behalf of the state Congress. Chavan and his father late SB Chavan have dominated the district politics for decades. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole is toning up his muscles to withstand the yatra, whose average daily distance is stated to be 40 km. NCP chief Sharad Pawar was to join the yatra for some duration but his current hospitalization has raised a question mark about his ability to do so. Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray, too, will join the yatra though no details are announced as of now.