A video of Rahul Gandhi stopping his car to speak to an old man holding a flag was shared by many social media users on Sunday.
The man, Karuna Prasad Mishra, is a 91 year old farmer from Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh, who has walked alongside the leader of Opposition before and called his bond with the Congress leader “an old relationship.”
“I am a voter of Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh. I have an old relationship with Rahul Gandhi... Today, I discussed with him about his trip to Bihar. He said that he will make arrangements for me to go to Bihar,” Mishra told ANI.
The exchange coincided with the launch of Congress MP’s Voter Adhikar Yatra, a march against the alleged “vote chori”. The 1,300-km campaign began Sunday in Sasaram, Bihar, where the Election Commission’s special intensive revision of voter rolls has invited serious criticism from the Opposition.
Gandhi, joined by RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and other Mahagathbandhan leaders, is set to cover more than 20 districts before concluding the march with a rally in Patna on September 1.
"He invited me to join the Bihar padyatra since I have already undertaken a padyatra from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir, and another from Manipur to Maharashtra, and he knows me...," Mishra told PTI.
Mishra is no stranger to long marches.
During Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2023, he walked daily, stick in hand, covering 15 miles at what he claimed was a steady seven-mile-an-hour pace. At the time, he told The Guardian: “I have witnessed my country go through many periods, but nothing like this. Prime Minister Modi is nothing but a heartless butcher. I am walking with Rahul Gandhi to reinforce the spirit of brotherhood, harmony and secularism in India.”
Mishra proudly said his feet never ached even after four months on the road.
That same year, when twin blasts shook Jammu, Mishra was again present as Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district. Security was heightened, but the then 88-year-old farmer insisted nothing would stop him.
“I am not scared of anything. I am from Madhya Pradesh. I walked with Gandhi ji and I also walked with Nehru ji and Indira ji and now I am walking with Rahul ji,” Mishra had told NDTV.