The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) launched the Bharat Jodo Yatra for Nagaland on 19 November, here at Dimapur, commemorating the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The Yatra was launched under the theme ‘save Nagaland save the nation’ and commenced with a ribbon cutting by NPCC President K Therie. The Congress theme song was launched by Vivi Yepthomi at DC Court Junction, Dimapur.

The yatra started at 7am and culminated at Chumoukedima gate in the evening, covering a distance of around 20km.

The Congress leaders addressed the gathering during brief halts at three locations- Supermarket and 4th Mile along the way and lastly at Chumoukedima.

AICC general secretary in-charge of Nagaland, Janajit Mukherjee stated that the purpose of the yatra is to unite the community, people and the society and is not an electoral exercise but rather a mass organisation exercise.

He said since Nagaland does not have the main yatra passing through, the NPCC has organised their own State Bharat Jodo and the yatra will be organised in phases.

Speaking on the theme of the yatra, Mukherjee said the entire concept is to save Nagaland and save India. He pointed out that there is no developmental focus in the state in terms of roads, electricity, jobs, hospitals and others.

He said we need to save the state from the forces of political ideology which specialises in trying to put the majority community against the minority.

The aim of this Bharat Jodo Yatra which was initiated by Congress led by Rahul Gandhi aims to unite India to come together and strengthen the nation. The Yatra began on 7 September from Kanyakumari and will pass through 12 states, culminating in Jammu and Kashmir – spanning a distance of nearly 3,500km over the course of about 150 days.