Mumbai, Sep 3 (IANS): Three days after the opposition INDIA bloc's conclave held in Mumbai, the Congress' Maharashtra unit on Sunday launched a weeklong massive ‘Jan Samvad Yatra’ aimed at exposing the failures of the Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the Centre and in the state.

The JSY commenced simultaneously in Mumbai-Konkan, Vidarbha, western and northern Maharashtra, but was temporarily suspended in Marathwada which has been rocked by the pro-quotas Marathas unrest for the past three days.

Former CM Ashok Chavan said in a social media post that "in view of the police lathi-charge on agitators in Jalna, the JSY in Marathwada is being suspended, and the new schedules would be announced soon".

The JSY started with large numbers participating in different regions – Congress state President Nana Patole and Leader of Opposition in Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar in Vidarbha, north Maharashtra led by CLP Leader Balasaheb Thorat, western Maharashtra commanded by ex-CM Prithviraj Chavan, and other senior leaders in various districts.

All the leaders would converge on September 12 for a two-day tour of the crucial Mumbai-Konkan coastal belt in a bus-yatra.

Kickstarting the JSY in Wardha, Patole termed it as "a struggle for freedom from the tyranny and empty promises of the BJP government to the farmers, youth, workers and the poor, and its ineptness to curb inflation or tackle unemployment, while indulging in rampant corruption".

The other prominent leaders who launched the JSY included Wadettiwar in Nagpur and Congress Group Leader Satej Patil in Kolhapur, with the participation of local leaders, grassroots workers and people joining in.

During the halts, the leaders spoke on the Maratha issue, the lapses and failures of the 10-year BJP rule at the Centre and in states, and lent an ear to the problems and challenges of the local people who gathered there.