Hoping to generate much-needed political momentum to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections barely a couple of months away, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday began his second yatra in a little over a year, outlining an amorphous vision of building a “harmonious and equitable” society as against what he called the BJP’s politics of “violence, hatred and monopoly”.

Over the next two months, the Manipur-to-Maharashtra yatra will cover 6,713 km, mostly by bus. From Imphal to Mumbai, Gandhi will criss-cross 15 states, passing through 100 Lok Sabha constituencies, before reaching Mumbai on March 20-21. The custom-made Volvo bus has been equipped with a hydraulic lift so that he can address crowds en route.

Addressing a public meeting in Thoubal, near Imphal, minutes before the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was flagged off, Gandhi was largely cautious while Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took on the BJP on its Hindutva pitch. Both criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting trouble-torn Manipur till date.

Ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Kharge accused Modi of using Ram for electoral gains and alleged that the BJP was indulging in deception for votes.

“Woh samandar ke upar sair karte firte hai, aur jap karte baithte hai – Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram (He is seen enjoying the sea, sitting and chanting Ram, Ram),” Kharge said. “Mukh mein Ram, bagal mein churi. Don’t do this with the people,” he said, referring to the Hindi idiom that cautions against people whose words and actions differ.

Elaborating, he said, “Everyone remembers God. Everyone has faith in God. There is no doubt about that. But don’t do it for votes. One should not indulge in such deception for seeking votes and for securing votes… Fight for your principles… we are also fighting for our principles…we are fighting for secularism, liberty, equality, social justice… and for saving the Constitution, you also fight… These (BJP) people mix religion with politics and incite people.”

The Congress has declined the invitation extended to its leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to attend the consecration ceremony on January 22.

In his speech, Gandhi said Manipur was a symbol of the BJP and RSS’s politics of hate. “I was determined that the march should begin in Manipur… as we understand the pain, loss, hurt and sadness you have been through…We have lost what is most precious to us. You have lost it because of the ideology of the BJP, because of the politics of the BJP, because of the hatred of the BJP and the RSS spread in their politics,” he said.

“We understand the pain that the people of Manipur have been through, we understand the hurt, the sadness. We will bring back harmony, peace and affection for which this state was known,” he said.

Gandhi said India was going through a period of great injustice — social, economic and political.

“Economically, monopolies are being built and few people are getting access to all the wealth of the country. One or two businesses have their fingers in everything and the large majority of businesses, small and medium businesses are being destroyed. Huge levels of unemployment, massive price rise is what the whole of India is facing,” he said.

On the social side, he said, “the large mass of India’s people… the lower castes, Dalits, tribals simply do not have a say in the governance system of the country… These are the issues that the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is going to raise,” he said.

“We want to listen to your mann ki baat. We want to understand your pain and make a vision for India with you… not of violence, of hatred, of monopoly…but vision of a harmonious, equitable (society) and brotherhood…we want to craft that vision by listening to your voices and present before India,” Gandhi said.

After starting the yatra, Gandhi made his first stop at a tea stall at Lamjing Bazar, a few kilometres away.

With Jimmy Leivon in Imphal