Veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh started a 70-day padayatra from Ujjain to Ayodhya on Tuesday. The 79-year-old leader said, "Where there is dharma, there is victory." He plans to cover 950 km to raise awareness about alleged Ram temple donation theft and vote stealing, while keeping the march strictly apolitical.

Bhopal: At 79, veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh is set to embark on a 70-day-'padayatra' from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on the Dussehra Day on Tuesday to generate awareness on the theft of donations of Ram temple and alleged 'vote stealing'.

The foot march is scheduled to commence from the Mahakaleshwar shrine in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh and will end at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The yatra will cover around 950 km.

This will be the second long-distance journey by foot by Mr. Singh in the past eight years.

He had undertaken 3200 km- 'Parikrama' (circumambulation) of Narmada River ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh which saw the Congress return to power in the state after a gap of 15 years.

The Kamal Nath government then had however lasted barely 15 months in the wake of around 25 Congress MLAs, loyal to Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia (who was then in Congress), switching over to BJP.

Mr. Singh has described his Ujjain to Ayodhya 'padayatra', christened as 'Satya Sanatan Swabhiman Yatra', purely apolitical and will not carry the flag of the Congress.

The upcoming yatra which will pass through the Ram Raja Sarkar shrine in Orchha in Madhya Pradesh however combines a religious pilgrimage with a campaign on electoral accountability.

According to Mr. Singh, the yatra's motto is 'Yato Dharmastato Jayah', which means 'where there is dharma, there is victory'.

Highlighting campaign materials to be circulated during the yatra, he said that they contained allegations of donation theft, the theft of silver bricks, alleged scams involving land purchases near Ram Temple, corruption in temple construction and the consecration ceremony.

His campaign will also highlight alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the functioning of the Election Commission's ECINet software.