14 States, 75 Districts and 13 Rallies…, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra Passed or Failed?

Minus one degree temperature and Rahul Gandhi hoisting the tricolor at Srinagar’s Lalchowk…, this picture of January 29 is still going viral with reels on social media.  After reaching Srinagar, after 135 days, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra ended at Lal Chowk itself. 

The journey started from Kanyakumari, the last end of Tamil Nadu, on September 7 and reached Kashmir through 75 districts of 14 states of the country. 204 Indian travelers accompanied Rahul from Kanyakumari to Srinagar during this period. Rahul addressed 13 rallies in Bharat Jodo Yatra. 

(Source-PTI)

According to the Congress, all India travelers traveled about  4000 km in 135 days. Bollywood stars like Kamal Haasan, Riya Sen, Swara Bhaskar, Sushant Singh also participated in this visit of Rahul. Opposition’s MK Stalin, Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mukti were also seen walking with Rahul in the yatra.

After the yatra, discussion has started in political circles about the future of Rahul Gandhi and Congress. Less than 400 days are left for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In such a situation, let us know, how effective will this visit of Rahul be to revive the Congress organization?

Journey Pass or Fail, 3 Points
1. Congress succeeded in creating a serious image of Rahul- Through the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress has succeeded in projecting Rahul Gandhi as a leader with a serious image across the country. Despite a knee injury, Rahul’s walking remained in the media and social media headlines. Traveling wearing a T-shirt in the cold was also discussed. 

In an opinion piece in the Indian Express, former Union Minister P Chidambaram writes, ‘Rahul Gandhi listened to lakhs of people during the yatra, who belonged to different communities and classes. The yatra was more popular in states ruled by the BJP and regional parties. Rahul was a hope for the people who came to tell their problems.’

(Source-PTI)

After 2011, the image of Rahul Gandhi in the country was not that of a serious leader who either disappears or is unable to raise the issue when needed. Referring to this incident during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul himself had said that crores of rupees were spent to malign my image. 

2. Congressmen came on the streets- After the crushing defeat in 2014, the Congress was continuously lagging behind in the fight on the ground. In other words, Congressmen were disappearing from the streets. Another major achievement of the Bharat Jodo Yatra was that Congressmen came out on the streets from Tamil Nadu to Jammu and Kashmir.  From the point of view of 2024 elections, the Congress is considering it as Sanjeevani. 

The effect of the yatra was so great that even in the states through which this yatra did not pass, the Congressmen are taking out the yatra with folded hands. The names of Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal are mainly included in these. During the yatra, Rahul instructed all state heads to undertake 5-10 km walk every month. 

(Source-PTI)

It has also been implemented in Rajasthan, where assembly elections are to be held at the end of this year. Congress is also going to take out Hath Hath Jodo Yatra in many states soon. 

3. Failed to unite the opposition- Around 300 seats in the Lok Sabha are dominated by regional parties that are not part of the government with the BJP. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had also invited those party leaders to attend the closing ceremony, but veterans like Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Mamta Banerjee did not attend. 

Allies like Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray also did not attend the rally. However, the people of his party were definitely seen stepping in the journey. In view of the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the absence of these leaders is going to increase the tension for the Congress. Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has so far failed to unite the opposition. 

(Source-Social Media)

Rahul’s emotional speech, how effective?
Rahul Gandhi gave an emotional speech of about 40 minutes at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar amid snowfall. Rahul said that when I came out wearing a white T-shirt, only one thing came to my mind. What can be the maximum? White T-shirt will turn red. 

Rahul also told the stories of the assassination of Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi in the rally. The effect of Rahul’s emotional speech is believed to be certain in Kashmir. It hardly has much effect in other states. 

Yatra at its place, why is it still not easy to revive Congress?
Rahul’s yatra is over now and Congress has gathered for the proposed general convention in the last week of February. It is not easy for Rahul to revive the Congress even after the yatra. Rahul said after Bharat Jodo Yatra that this was the first step and further decisions would be taken.

1. High command failed to take strict and quick decisions- The Congress high command has so far failed to take quick and strict decisions. Be it the crisis of Rajasthan Congress or the allegation of conspiracy to topple the government on 3 MLAs in Jharkhand. The Congress high command has not yet been able to take any strict decision in these matters. 

Senior journalist Rashid Kidwai says- Whenever a big decision has to be taken, the current president Mallikarjun Kharge starts looking towards 10 Janpath, while 10 Janpath i.e. Sonia Gandhi has distanced herself from the decision making of Congress. 

In such a situation, strict and quick decisions are not being taken by the Congress high command in many cases, which will definitely be a loss. 

2. It is also not easy to do surgery in the organization – A resolution was passed in Udaipur, which included rules like one post-one person formula, 5-year tenure on one post and cooling period for leaders. 

At present Mallikarjun Kharge himself is sitting on 2 posts for the last 3 months. KC Venugopal has also been posted as General Secretary for more than 5 years. In many states, the appointment of district heads and block heads has been pending for a long time due to internal factionalism.

It is not easy for the Congress to do surgery in the organization. It has been said in the political proposal at the Udaipur Chintan Shivir that if there is no radical change in the organization, then it is difficult to revive the Congress. 

3. Fund crisis is also a problem- Since the defeat in 2019, Congress has been struggling with fund crisis. According to an affidavit filed with the Election Commission, the Congress received only Rs 285.76 crore from donations in 2020-21, which was Rs 682 crore less than in 2018-19. 

In 2018-19, the Congress had received about Rs 918 crore in donations. Recently, in view of the economic crisis, Pawan Bansal, the treasurer in charge of the Congress, had issued an advisory for the national general secretary and secretary. 

In Udaipur Chintan Shivir, a door-to-door donation was proposed to collect funds, which has not been implemented yet. 

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