Patna, Jan 11 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was likely to reach Bihar by the end of this month and cover a number of districts in two phases, party leaders said here on Thursday.

State Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh said at a press conference that Gandhi was expected to enter Bihar "by January 27-28" and "cover all districts falling in Seemanchal", a densely populated, relatively poor part of the state, close to the borders with West Bengal, Nepal and Bangladesh.

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Speaking at the same press meet, AICC spokesperson Alok Sharma, who has also been named the Lok Sabha polls coordinator for Bihar, said Gandhi will enter Bihar through West Bengal and head towards Jharkhand.

"From Jharkhand, he will be back in Bihar. This means he will spend many days altogether in Bihar. Detailed programmes will be scheduled in due course", said Sharma.

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The Yatra is scheduled to commence on January 14 from ethnic strife-torn Manipur and is likely to commence more than two months later in Mumbai.

Viewed as a follow-up to the "Bharat Jodo Yatra" which saw Gandhi cover more than 3,000 kilometres on foot, from Kanya Kumari to Srinagar, the latest campaign is expected to involve extensive bus rides by the Congress leader who will be travelling more than 6,000 kilometres till commencement on March 20.

Sharma was also asked about the comment of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey who has alleged that in Jharkhand, Gandhi would skip the pilgrim town of Deogarh for fear of angering his Muslim voters.

The Congress leader shot back: "We do not wish to take note of what a deranged man like Nishikant Dubey says. He cannot decide for us our route. Moreover, the BJP would do better to address the concerns raised by Shankaracharyas with regard to the Ram temple at Ayodhya".

He was referring to the reports that the four Shankaracharyas would not attend the Ram temple inauguration as religious scriptures were not being adhered to at the event.

The Congress leaders also said that in order to "counter the propaganda machine of BJP", the party has set up a war room in Delhi and efforts were on to establish regional war rooms across the country.

"We take this opportunity to announce that a war room is being set up in Bihar. It will be headed by senior leader and MLC Prem Chandra Mishra," said the Congress leaders.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)