Shimla, Jan 18 (PTI) The Congress will reach out to electorate in 10 lakh polling booths in the country under its 'Haath Se Haath jodo' political campaign from January 26, party leader Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday.

He was addressing a press conference here on the sidelines of the Bharat Jodo Yatra which entered Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday morning, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeting the BJP and the RSS and accusing them of spreading hatred, violence and fear in the country.

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Ramesh, who is Congress general secretary in-charge communications, said the Yatra was not connected to the elections and "is a fight for ideology" against "increasing economic disparities, social polaristion and political dictatorship of BJP/RSS and attack on constitutional institutions".

Bharat Jodo Yatra is a fight for ideology 'but Haath Se Haath Jodo' (join hands) is a political campaign as the election symbol of Congress is visible in the campaign, he said.

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"The Congress would reach out to 10 lakh polling booths in six lakh villages and 2.5 lakh gram panchayats during its campaign from January 26 to March 26 and a letter written by Rahul Gandhi and a 'charge sheet' against failure of the Modi government would be distributed to every household," he added.

“For the first time, the Constitution is being ignored and one constitutional body is attacking the other and what we need is to unite and march forward,” he said and claimed the BJP is "unnerved by the overwhelming" response to the Yatra.

While the Congress has claimed that the Yatra has been a success and has galvanised the masses on issues raised by it and other non-NDA parties have also praised it, there have been diverse views on how the party will benefit from it electorally.

AICC-incharge of Himachal Pradesh Rajiv Shukla on Wednesday said the Yatra was a "key factor" in the victory of the Congress party in the recent Himachal Pradesh assembly polls.

"During the election campaign it was found that the yatra had a great impact on the people and the message reached every village and household," he said.

“We pledge to fulfil all the election promises and the process to implement three of the promises has been initiated," he said.

Senior leader Anand Sharma said the Yatra was akin "to the freedom movement launched by great leaders including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru who united the people against the British rule".

“Upholding the tenets of secularism, inclusiveness and bringing people together in a country like India with diversities is not an easy task but this Yatra has done it and the win of Congress in Himachal was a victory of the messages disseminated by the Yatra," he said.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while referring to the extension given to BJP national President J P Nadda, said that Nadda was in the state during the assembly election and it was "flooded with BJP leaders" but still the BJP could not retain power.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that Himachal Pradesh put a spoke in the victory spree of the BJP and proved that saffron party can be defeated.

"We are sure that the Congress party would fare well in assembly elections in nine states and would win Lok Sabha polls under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi who would be the next prime minister," he said.

State Congress chief Pratibha Singh said that the people of Himachal are thankful to Rahul Gandhi for including the state in the Yatra route.

The march, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will conclude in Srinagar by January 30, with Gandhi hoisting the national flag.

It has so far passed through Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. PTI/BPL

(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)