Swara Bhasker urges people to 'stand up for our country'

Ujjain: Actor Swara Bhasker, the latest cinema personality to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, on Thursday appealed to fellow citizens to join the mass contact programme of the Indian National Congress.

The actor, known for being vocal about her opinions on topical issues, was seen walking briskly with Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain.

In a 'Twitter' thread, Bhasker said she was elated to join the foot march, led by Gandhi.

"Joined @bharatjodo yatra today and walked with @RahulGandhi. The energy, commitment and love are inspiring! The participation and warmth of common people, enthusiasm of Congress workers and Rahul Gandhi's attention and care toward everyone and everything around him is astounding! @INCIndia," she wrote.

Requesting people to turn up in huge numbers for the yatra, the actor said, "Only passing @RahulGandhi a bouquet a young man in the surging crowd brought and was desperately trying to get across to Rahul Gandhi. You got to be here to feel the energy and the love. Seriously, join @bharatjodo yatra people. Stand up for our country! (sic)." Bhasker, who is often trolled for speaking her mind on social media, urged citizens to "resist hate".

"At a time when hate is normal & the dominant logic is that 'no low is too low as long as the election is won', when society is so brutalised that we barely blink at heinous crimes, @bharatjodo yatra is a radical new imagination and expression of how we can resist hate. @INCIndia," she wrote.

Earlier in the day, the official Twitter handle of the Indian National Congress shared a picture of Bhasker with Gandhi.

"Today famous actress @ReallySwara became part of #BharatJodoYatra. The presence of every section of the society has made this yatra a success," the tweet read.

Previously, cinema personalities such as Amol Palekar, Sandhya Gokhale, Pooja Bhatt, Riya Sen, Sushant Singh, Mona Ambegaonkar, Rashmi Desai and Akanksha Puri took part in the yatra.

Hollywood star John Cusack on 'Twitter' had also extended his support to the foot march, a mass contact programme of the Congress, in late September.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed from Ujjain on Thursday morning after a day's break and headed for Agar Malwa, the last district of its Madhya Pradesh leg. The yatra is scheduled to cover a distance of 380 km in the politically crucial Malwa-Nimar region of western Madhya Pradesh within 12 days.

The Assembly elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state are due next year.

From Madhya Pradesh, the yatra will enter Rajasthan on December 4, according to a programme announced by the Congress.

The march led by Gandhi entered Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur district from neighbouring Maharashtra on November 23.

It has so far passed through Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone and Indore districts of MP.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra began on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.