Rahul Gandhi leads India opposition march into New Delhi

A cross-country march headed by Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in New Delhi on Saturday, as the group seeks to counter what they say is "hate" stirred by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government. 

Members of India's main opposition Congress party and thousands of supporters arrived in the capital amid a 5-month-long cross-country "Unite India Rally."

Eight states, five months, 3500 kilometers

The march, which has been led by Rahul Gandhi, an opposition leader of the Congress party and scion of the influential Gandhi family, has already been through eight Indian states.

Flanked by his mother, Sonia Gandhi, and sister, Priyanka Gandhi, the 52-year-old Rahul Gandhi said that the motive of his long walk across the country is to revive the once-mighty Congress party and showcase the "real India," unlike the "hate-filled version" offered by Prime Minister Modi.

"They will spread hate," Gandhi said, referring to Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, whereas "we will spread love."

Election impetus

The march began in September in the coastal town of Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India.

The parade will take a nine-day break in the Indian capital before embarking upon its final leg on January 3. The march will end in Srinagar in the northernmost Himalayan region of Kashmir and will have covered some 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) since its outset.

With a national election less than 16 months away, the march is seen by many as an attempt at providing early impetus for the beleaguered opposition ahead of the nationwide ballot.

jsi/wd (AP, Reuters)