Rahul interacts with children on first day of Yatra in Rajasthan

Jhalawar (Rajasthan): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi began the Rajasthan leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Jhalawar district on Monday morning, with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot in attendance.

The 89th day of the yatra started from Kali Talai in Jhalrapatan, a rural area on the Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border. Gandhi set off the yatra at 6.10 am when the temperature was 13 degrees Celsius, but he was seemingly comfortable walking in a half sleeves T-shirt and trousers teamed with sports shoes, while the other leaders and workers were seen in jackets.

The other notable leaders who accompanied Gandhi were AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Govind Singh Dotasra, senior leader Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas. During the yatra, Gandhi interacted with about half a dozen children and waved at a large number of people who participated in the yatra who called it a "fair." He sipped his morning tea at a dhaba. During the yatra, former MP Raghuveer Meena felt uneasiness and he was taken to the district hospital in Jhalawar in an ambulance.

The Congress party tweeted in Hindi asking its members and supporters not to slow down but deliver "something amazing".

"Bharat Jodo Yatra has saluted the soil of bravery, and Rajasthan, which is a land of histories, will create another history," the party tweeted.

While Gehlot shared pictures on Twitter, Pilot took to the micro-blogging platform to convey that the yatra in the state started with a resolve to fulfil hopes and expectations of the youth.