• Source:PTI
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The second leg of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' in Jharkhand, which was scheduled to start on Wednesday, has been cancelled. According to the party official, the Yatra was cancelled as the senior party leader rushed to Delhi to participate in a farmers' protest. 

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and other party leaders will now lead the planned meeting with MGNREGA workers in Ranka in the Garhwa district. Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to re-enter Jharkhand through Garhwa district from Chhattisgarh on Wednesday for the second phase of his yatra in the state.

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"As per the decision taken on Tuesday late night, all programmes under Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra have been cancelled in Jharkhand," Congress spokesperson Sonal Shanti told PTI. Adding, Shanti said "it was unlikely" that the yatra would later resume from Jharkhand.

Congress leaders, including AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh, Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur, Jharkhand in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir, NSUI in-charge Kanhiya Kumar, and others, will now take part in the planned meeting with MGNREGA workers in Ranka.

The first leg of Yatra in Jharkhand took place in the first week of February. It had entered Jharkhand from West Bengal on February 2 and entered Odisha on February 6. In the second part, Gandhi was supposed to spend two days in Jharkhand before moving on to Bihar on February 15.

The 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', which started in Manipur on January 14, is scheduled to cover 6,713 km in 67 days, passing through 110 districts in 15 states, before culminating in Mumbai on March 20.

Meanwhile, agitating farmers are marching to Delhi to press for various demands, including a law on a minimum support price for crops and loan waivers. Their demands included implementation of MS Swaminathan committee recommendations, higher sugar cane prices, a Rs 10,000 monthly pension for farmers above 60, action on the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, and land in Delhi for a memorial honouring past farmer protest "martyrs."