Degloor, Nanded: It is day 61 of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a grandiose and ambitious attempt by Congress leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi to unite India as he traverses the length of the country—12 states and 3,500 km—from Kanyakumari to Kashmir on foot. At 4.30 pm, we are nearing the town of Degloor in Nanded district of Maharashtra, skirting the border of Telangana. Vast stretches teeming with jowar and lentil fields whiz past, as our vehicle follows a speeding convoy of cars on NH161.

When the convoy halts, it’s outside a makeshift campsite in Biloli. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who last held the post of Guardian Minister of Nanded district and helmed the PWD ministry before the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed in June this year, steps out for a recce. He inspects the arrangements, offering feedback to the coordinators, before heading towards Gurdwara Yaadgari Baba Zoravar Singh ji, Fateh Singh ji in Ibrahimpur, a few kilometres ahead. Here, he meets the heads of the gurdwara trust, listing out the itinerary for the day. Later that night, on the eve of Guru Nanak Jayanti, when Gandhi’s padyatra will enter Maharashtra, the gurdwara is where he will make his first halt, after being welcomed by the state’s Congress leadership at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Statue in Kalamandir.