Against the backdrop of demotivating losses in three important States of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi has begun its Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Manipur from Sunday. The party suffered a huge setback on the same day after Rahul Gandhi’s trusted aide and former Union minister Milind Deora joined Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
He was the party’s young brigade member alongside Sachin Pilot, who is not very happy either. Considering these factors, Nyay Yatra is Congress’ last shot at rejuvenating its karyakartas ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will traverse through 100 Lok Sabha constituencies of 15 States in 67 days by bus and on foot, while covering a staggering 6,710 kilometres before concluding at Mumbai on March 20 or 21. The Congress has claimed that this mega campaign will be as transformational as previous the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but it is unclear over what factors the party has expressed such confidence. Because, apart from Karnataka, there has been no transformation whatsoever in other States. The people of Telangana had grown weary of the dictatorial regime led by KCR and Congress was fortunate enough to find an able local leadership in Revanth Reddy, which is why the party succeeded in overthrowing BRS. In Karnataka too, people were agitated over the Bommai-led government, and D K Sivakumar’s smart planning helped the party to return to power in the State. There is no denying that the Bharat Jodo Yatra helped Congress to re-establish the connection with the common people to some extent, but it was nowhere near transformational to show results in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Chhattisgarh. Therefore, there are valid doubts whether the Nyay Yatra will be able show some positive changes in the upcoming general elections.
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According to the Congress, the Lok Sabha polls will be contested over four major factors – unemployment, inflation, corruption and social justice. The party had stressed on the same points during the recently concluded assembly elections of five states as well, apart from ‘revadi’ announcements just like other parties. However, Congress did not witness the expected success. The reason for that is that the party kept fighting in the Parliament over the Adani issue but did not come on the road to protest over burning issues faced by the common man. The Congress leaders did not succeed in narrowing the difference between connecting with people through campaigns and accompanying people in their protests for social justice. While addressing the people of Manipur on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi promised to bring back peace in the State for which it was always known for. In his emotional speech, he expressed the party’s solidarity with the people of Manipur and their loss. Congress has tried to send out a message that they stand firmly behind the minorities and the tribals by commencing the Yatra from a State which has been the most turbulent in the country for the past several months. There is no doubt that the party’s aim will be to resurface issues such as Prime Minister’s utter silence on the violence, the parliamentary session which was suspended several times over the same matter and the mass suspension of MPs. Although these factors would favour Congress, it does not seem like the party has taken into consideration the fact that they are part of the INDIA bloc. They also do not seem to have studied Congress’ current status in the States they have chosen to take the Yatra to. This will result in loss of time for the party in the States where they will not gain too many seats. As per some senior Congress leaders themselves, the party’s energy will be wasted on magnifying Rahul Gandhi’s image instead of uniting the voters.
When taking a look at the party’s plan for the Yatra, Congress has focused on the States where their presence has diminished. First of all, Congress is part of the INDIA alliance and it’s a question of how many seats will be allocated to the party in the States where their presence has already weakened. So, only time will tell how much Congress will benefit from the Yatra. However, the one thing the party has done well is the timing of the campaign. They have decided to launch the campaign during the same time as the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, which will be telecasted all over the country. Needless to say, Gandhi will also receive huge media attention in the upcoming days. Naturally, Congress’ attempt will be to create a picture of Rahul Gandhi trying to understand common people’s problems through the Yatra, while PM Narendra Modi is busy performing pujas and abhishekam. What will this entail? Because during a time when Congress has to face the public as part of the INDIA front, they are going their individual ways. Lest one forget, there are merely three months left before the country goes to the polls. This will affect the unity of the alliance as proved by JDU, which criticised Congress on the very first day of the Yatra. Only the election results will be able to tell how much the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra helped the party.
