When Rahul Gandhi reached Kanyakumari on September 7 last year to embark on an ambitious cross-country march, Bharat Jodo Yatra, there was scepticism all around, especially in his Congress party. His critics – both within the Congress and outside – viewed him as a “non-serious” and “reluctant” politician. The obvious question on everyone’s mind was whether he would be able to complete the Yatra.
The Congress too was then in the throes of uncertainty, bracing for turbulence over the choice of the next party president. In the preceding months the party had seen some high profile exits and humiliating Assembly election defeats. Rahul had an unenviable task at hand: he had to fix his bruised image and turn around his party’s battered electoral fortunes.
The Congress desperately wanted Rahul to set a narrative to counter the BJP. And as the Yatra rolled into the Northern plains, he formulated a slogan – that he is out to open a shop of love in the marketplace of hate – which he thought was powerful. The Congress found the slogan “all-encompassing”.
The impact of Rahul’s 4,018 km Yatra – which covered 75 districts and 76 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 12 states and two Union Territories (UTs) over 145 days – on the electoral politics is debatable. And so is the narrative against the politics of hate that he has been trying to set in the last one year.
The Congress says the Yatra had a role in the party’s victory in the Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh in December last year and in Karnataka in May. It was another matter that the party blamed local factors for its worst defeat in Gujarat which went to polls along with Himachal Pradesh when the Yatra was entering North from South.
Many in the Congress feel the Yatra has done two things: It has raised Rahul’s moral stature within the party and helped him gain respect of senior leaders besides increasing his acceptability among the people.
“There was a sense of indifference among the top leaders of the party towards Rahul before the Yatra. I would not call it hate. But most of the senior leaders had something negative to say about Rahul. And I would not blame them…We all thought he was not doing enough…there were questions about him,” a Congress leader said.
Even at that time, however, the Congress cadre had a different opinion, said another party leader. “They saw Rahul as the leader…perhaps because they never interacted that closely with him on a regular basis. But one thing I can say now, most of our leaders joined Rahul during the Yatra at some point of time…they walked with him and realised it was not an easy thing. There is now a sense of respect and admiration for him among the top leaders,” he said.
But Congress leaders admit that Rahul is still not a mass leader who can swing votes. “Modi was popular in the BJP even before 2014. He commanded respect after winning the decisive mandate in 2014 and powered the BJP to victory in state after state. Rahul is nowhere near him…but the Congress leaders view him in a different light now,” a leader said.
There is also a view within the Congress that the party leadership could resolve many internal tussles because of Rahul’s moral authority, which he
gained through the Yatra, coupled with party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s leadership. “We managed a very smooth election in Karnataka. We could handle the warring leaders and settle differences. In Rajasthan, in Chhattisgarh, we could bring in some amount of cohesion,“ a leader said.
But some of the leaders feel the party is starting to lose momentum now. “We had an upper hand when it came to setting the narrative till about June from September last year. All through the Yatra, the BJP kept attacking us. They were reacting. Then we set the narrative in Karnataka. Rahul’s disqualification from Lok Sabha, the Adani affair…we thought we were on top of the narrative but it is changing again,” said a leader.
The Congress was on a campaign mode continuously till June. “But we kind of dropped the ball in the last two-three months,” the leader said.
The Opposition bloc stepped up its game and forged the INDIA alliance in this period, though. “That is different. I feel the Congress organisational activities slowed down,” said the leader. “And perhaps that is why the BJP is back to being successful in setting distractive narratives. This ‘one nation, one election’, Bharat-India and all… they are back to doing their usual stuff. They lob the ball at you and you try to grapple. We should have continued with the mass contact programme.”
Most of the Congress leaders believe Rahul would embark on the Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 very soon. “BJY 2.0 is imperative for the party to gain momentum till the Lok Sabha election. You need to put Rahul on the ground everyday from now till the election,” a party leader said. Sources close to Rahul said he will embark on the Yatra 2.0 closer to elections.
“We have to look at the coming state elections too. Then there are a series of joint rallies planned by the INDIA alliance. But Rahul would hit the road closer to Lok Sabha elections. There will be two major campaigns, one the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the other the INDIA alliance campaign which will be state-wise, manifesto and promise-oriented. BJY 2.0 will be the Congress national campaign,” a leader said.
After concluding the Yatra in Srinagar on January 30, Rahul made some “surprise” visits in different parts of the country and held well-planned meetings with a cross-section of people, sending out a message that he has continued to be on the move.
From his recent interaction with the workers of a chocolate factory in Ooty to his early-morning visit to Delhi’s Azadpur market a month ago, Rahul has since made several outings – all captured on camera by an accompanying team of professional videographers and photographers and disseminated on his social media platforms.
These seemingly non-political outings – involving visits to a bike mechanic shop in Karol Bagh, a paddy field in Sonipat to interact with farmers, a Delhi University hostel, Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar to meet with civil service aspirants, riding pillion on a delivery agent’s motorcycle in Karnataka, and hitching a ride with truck drivers in Punjab before repeating the same on the truck of an Indian in the US – is part of the Rahul’s bid to set his narrative that “Yatra jaari hai (Yatra is continuing)”.
Meanwhile, the Congress marked the first anniversary of the Bharat Jodo Yatra Thursday, with party leaders from across the country hailing Rahul’s leadership.
Describing the Yatra as a people’s movement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the march was not just a physical endeavour but a sincere effort to “rebuild our broken collective conscience” and that it continues to fight the menace of hate and hostility in society through a conversation.
“Our ingrained values of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity, for us, are supreme,” Kharge said in a statement posted on X. “The Congress party is continuously reaching out to people in an endeavour to reclaim our Constitution and protect our Democracy.”
“The trend of manufacturing irrelevant headlines to divert attention from the real issues of people to hide the agenda of hate and division is a systemic attack on our collective conscience,” Kharge said.
He said, “As the Yatra completes one year today, on behalf of the Indian National Congress, I congratulate Rahul Gandhi, all Bharat Yatris and the lakhs of our citizens who walked and joined in this historic endeavour.”
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Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The Bharat Jodo Yatra was a hugely transformative event in Indian politics and focussed on the themes of rising economic inequalities, increasing social polarisation and deepening political authoritarianism.”
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ramesh added that the Yatra was “not a Mann ki Baat lecturing exercise for Rahul Gandhi but an opportunity to listen to Janta ki Chinta”.
On his part, Rahul, in a message in Hindi, stated, “Crores of steps of Bharat Jodo Yatra towards unity and love have become the foundation of a better tomorrow for the country. The journey continues – till hatred is eradicated, till India unites. This is my promise!”