Hyderabad: As the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the Telugu states on Tuesday, with the entry into Telangana scheduled for October 23, senior leader V. Hanumantha Rao recalled the effort that went into making Rajiv Gandhi’s Sadbhavana Yatra a success in 1990.
Aimed at spreading the message of communal harmony, the 11-hour yatra undertaken on October 19 was attended by lakhs, with prominent leaders at the forefront.
Rao, who was given the organisational responsibility for the event within a month of taking charge as PCC president, said that like Rahul, Rajiv was bent on healing the rift in the society.
“Platforms were set up all over the route, on which senior leaders welcomed Rajiv Gandhi. Given the fact that he was one of the most handsome men of his time, young girls were embracing him all the way and I was asked to intervene,” he said, with a chuckle.
The senior leaders of the time, K. Brahmananda Reddy, Jalagam Vengala Rao, Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy, N. Janardhan Reddy, Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy, G. Venkataswamy, Sarojini Pulla Reddy, C. Jagannatha Rao and K. Keshav Rao accompanied Rajiv Gandhi till Secunderabad, he said.
He said that the yatra started at 11.30 am at Charminar, after hoisting of the party flag, passed through the Moazzamjahi Market, Sultan Bazaar and reached the Gandhi statue in Secunderabad by 10.30 pm. “On his way, he also visited the famous Gurudwara at Gowliguda. It was a good show and I was appreciated for making this a success,” Rao said.
Since then, a committee commemorates the yatra on the day by hoisting the flag and awarding noteworthy individuals for their contributions to society.
Nostalgic about the closeness he enjoyed with the Gandhi family, Rao remembered how he regularly met Rajiv Gandhi while he was undergoing senior pilot training at the Begumpet Airport.
“He was the reason behind me being the PCC president. I remained loyal and also jumped into Krishna River at Amalapuram without a second thought when Rajiv Gandhi tested my loyalty. Had he been alive, I would have become Chief Minister, as he had promised before he left for his last journey to Sriperumbudur in 1991,” he said.
