Imphal: Shakil Ahmed, a 54-year-old lawyer from Mumbai, landed in Manipur’s Imphal with a one-way ticket to join Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to “make his own contribution” to saving India’s democracy, despite his differences with the party’s politics and past policies.“I like the purpose of the Yatra – a march against the politics of hate in this country and against the manner in which the Constitution is being destroyed, institutions are being finished, all checks and balances to run a democracy are being removed steadily. It is a sort of a dictatorship, where even the media has become a puppet. At a time like this, if someone says that they are walking for democracy and to spread love, I thought I should be a part of it,” Ahmed said when The Wire met him in Kangpokpi, Manipur.Shakil Ahmed. Photo: Sravasti DasguptaAhmed had also joined the previous instalment, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a north-south walkathon led by Gandhi from Kanyakumari to Kashmir that was conducted from October 2022 to January 2023, when over 200 yatris walked with Gandhi.But with the difficult terrain in the north east where the Yatra has started, where the yatra is being covered mostly by bus, and the need for requisite permissions in the area, citizen yatris have found it difficult to join.The east to west yatra is the largest mass outreach programme ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and will travel around 6,700 km. It started on January 14 in Manipur’s Thoubal and will end in Mumbai, Maharashtra on March 20 or 21.Ahmed said that while his practice has suffered as he joins the Yatra and he has had “differences” with the Congress’s politics, he also remembered the advice given by Gopal Krishna Gokhale to Mahatma Gandhi.“It was the Congress that was in power when riots took place in Mumbai in 1992-93 and it did not take the measures it should have to stop the violence. Following the riots, it also failed to implement the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission report. I also did not agree with how Rajiv Gandhi handled the Ayodhya issue. Their (Congress’s) economic policies have also always been upper class aligned. These differences will always remain.“But I also remember Gandhi who was advised by Gopal Krishna Gokhale to travel through the country and told that ‘desh ko ghoomo desh ke samjho’ (travel across the country to understand the country). India is not about one religion, one language and one culture. With all this in mind I decided to join the yatra,” he said.Ahmed said that the yatra may not help the Congress electorally, but it will help spread a positive message.“For a politician to come and meet people in their villages, it’s a big thing,” he said.Karuna Prasad Mishra. Photo: Sravasti DasguptaDuring the previous yatra, Ahmed said that he slept in empty state buses which are stationed at the bus stops overnight, and ate with other yatris at the camps along the way. This time too, after a friend bought him a ticket to Imphal, he has been hitching rides along the way as he follows the yatra.“If one manages one’s needs and thinks outside the set ideas of how life should be, then anything can be managed,” he said.“Not connected to Congress, but to Gandhi”Karunaprasad Mishra, a resident of Seedhi in Madhya Pradesh, is 90 years old. But that has not stopped him from joining the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra a second time in less than a year.When The Wire met him in Manipur’s Senapati, Mishra said that he had walked the entire length of the previous yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. This time too, Mishra was back holding his national flag as he followed the yatra from Thoubal. He said that while he is not connected to the Congress, he is connected to Mahatma Gandhi.“I have never joined the Congress but yes I have been a supporter ever since 1944, when I joined Gandhi during the Quit India Movement and walked with him for 11 days. But after that my father caught hold of me and shut me inside the house and said that my future will be ruined if I continue to agitate against the British,” he said.Thereafter, Mishra said that over the years he met former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.“This (security) protocol was not there earlier. We could go and request to meet them any time and they would meet us. I joined this yatra as their son Rahul Gandhi is walking for the nation. I thought I should join him and give encouragement and say that the elders of the nation are standing for democracy,” he said.