The Bharat Jodo Yatra is being billed as Congress's biggest mass contact programme since independence and a 'turning point' in India's political history.
Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra has taken off with much fanfare and publicity across India with the Opposition party trying its best to connect with voters ahead of the crucial 2024 elections. Following the nationwide 'Mehengai Par Halla Bol' protests against increasing inflation, the Bharat Jodo Yatra has been launched by the party with the aim of "uniting India" against the divisive politics of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
The 3,570-km yatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, which will cover 12 states and two Union territories in about five months and formally began on September 8 with Rahul Gandhi, along with several party leaders.
Starting from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, the Yatra will move northwards, passing through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot and Jammu, before culminating in Srinagar.
Ahead of the yatra, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called it the "longest yatra undertaken by the party" and a "turning point for Indian political history".
"Padyatras (foot marches) have a significance of their own and this is transformational politics. This is what politics is about, not the politics of abuse, vendetta and vilification," Ramesh told PTI.
While Congress leader P Chidambar hailed the yatra as the country's "second freedom struggle" The BJP on Wednesday dubbed the Congress's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' as "hollow" and claimed that it was essentially a "family-saving campaign" to keep control of Gandhis over the party. Leaders of the party also dismissed the campaign as another attempt to establish Rahul Gandhi as a leader.
Taking a swipe at the recent exits of leaders from the Congress, including that of Ghulam Nabi Azad, BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rahul Gandhi couldn't even unify his own party, adding that there is a regular "court chorus" for him to become the party president again while he is often abroad.
BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also mocked the yatra as a "comedy of the century" and asked Rahul Gandhi to go to Pakistan to conduct it. "The Bharat that we live in today is resilient, robust & united. The only time India was divided was in 1947 because Congress agreed to it. Rahul Gandhi ji should go to Pakistan for 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' if they want unification." he tweeted.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai also took potshots at the Gandhi scion, asking him to fill petrol for the tanks of his convoy in BJP-ruled states to save money as he claimed petrol was cheaper in BJP-ruled states.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal led his own 'Tiranga Yatra' in Haryana's Adampur on Thursday where he was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Earlier on Tuesday, AAP took a swipe at the Congress over a promotional ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ post on Twitter, claiming that the grand old party has used a photograph from the 2011 anti-corruption movement that had brought it down from the power.
The party also claimed that its volunteers can be “clearly” seen in the photograph posted by the Congress on the microblogging site and thanked it for accepting the Arvind Kejriwal-led party as “real opposition”.
Other Opposition parties including Mamata Banerjee's TMC in West Bengal and Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in Bihar among others have not commented on the Yatra yet. Nevertheless, the ambitious move by Congress can mark a turning point in its career and has definitely caught the attention of all parties.
The Congres itself has dubbed it a "transformational moment" for Indian politics and a "decisive moment" for the party's rejuvenation.
The campaign is also a test for Rahul Gandhi. Though not new to the 'yatra bandwagon' and having taken part in marches before such as for the farmers' cause in Bhatta Parsaul, and a few other brief yatras, Gandhi has never undertaken such a journey at this scale.
(With inputs from PTI)