Decoding Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: Where Does INDIA Bloc Stand?

After the victory of Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections, most of the political analysts attributed it to the success of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. While a few commented that the emphasis was not viable as it couldn’t have much trickling effects in the other assembly elections — including in Rajasthan where the party was in government — the party leadership asked Gandhi to relaunch it. Keeping the fervour of Lok Sabha elections in mind Gandhi launched his Yatra again — this time with a twist. It is now known as Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which restores Congress’s 2019 promise of NYAY — Nyuntam Aay Yojana — an economic policy proposal to help the poorest of the poor.  

While flagging off the yatra, Gandhi said, “I was determined that the march should begin in Manipur. We understand the pain, loss, hurt and sadness you have been through. You have lost what you held precious because of the ideology of the BJP, because of the politics of the BJP, because of the hatred of the BJP and the RSS spread in their politics.” This statement significantly comes at a time when northern India is all set to celebrate the consecration of Ram Mandir which the grand old party has termed ‘RSS-BJP event’.  

Starting its journey from Thoubal district of Manipur on January 14, Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will cover the country’s landscape from east to west traversing through 100 Lok Sabha constituencies across 14 states — Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra — and will conclude around March 20 in Mumbai.  

The Congress, experts say, has hit a low after its defeat in the recent five-state Assembly elections, apart from Telangana. Most of its strongholds have already been lost, and Congress needs something big- a counter-narrative to restore the confidence of the masses. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra appears to be the grand old party’s last hope to gain back the lost support. But the question remains whether this plank will be strong enough to compete with BJP’s cultural nationalism.  

Resurrecting the Idea of NYAY

While the first Bharat Jodo Yatra was focused on uniting people from across India, Congress' intention with the second one is something more. With Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the grand old party aims to hit the nail on social, political and economic "injustice" to present an alternative vision to the divisive politics of the BJP. 

“This yatra not only aims to unite every religion and caste in India but also gives 'nyay'. We have added 'nyay' to the name of this yatra because we feel that the BJP and RSS have done a lot of injustice - social, economic and political - to people of the nation," Rahul Gandhi said at the National Flag handover ceremony in Haluwating, Assam.

The Nyay Yatra finds its roots in Congress’ idea of the term which was its centerpiece promise in its poll manifesto in 2019. The Nyuntam Aay Yojana, or NYAY, was a proposed social welfare programme where the party promised to distribute upto Rs 72,000 per year to the poorest 20 per cent of Indian families as basic income, as a minimum guarantee programme. “Ab hoga Nyay”, a play on the term, became Congress’ political slogan in the election, mostly positioning Rahul Gandhi for visuals. However, the scheme failed to find much resonance with the masses amid BJP’s “Phir ek baar, Modi Sarkar” sloganeering. 

At a rally in Nagpur on December 28, party president Mallikarjun Kharge brought back the welfare scheme. If voted to power, he said, the party would implement the NYAY under which women would be given “at least Rs 60,000-70,000” annually. 

Outreaching OBCs?  

The Nyay Yatra, according to Congress, focuses on another key aspect, written in the Preamble as “arthik nyay, samajik nyay, rajnitik nyay” — economic, social and political justice — with a special focus on social justice. It is in line with the INDIA alliance’s recent position and aggressive campaigning for a nationwide caste census that focuses on representation for OBCs. 

For a long time, Congress did not prioritise the idea of social justice in elections. But the BJP, backed by RSS, saw an opportunity in this gap. The saffron party banked on caste politics and brought a few Shudra/OBC and Dalits into formal power structures and alleged a Congress-Muslim relationship to draw the Shudra/OBC and Dalits into their fold. It was only after Congress brought together its anti-BJP allies into one fold, the INDIA alliance, that it started campaigning for social justice. 

Also Read: Is INDIA Bloc Failing To Address Dalit Parties?

On the other hand, for the BJP, ‘nyay’ is not an alien concept. Moreover, the BJP has also held ‘nyay yatra’ of its own. In 1985-86, in Gujarat, the BJP held several yatras, one of which was called ‘nyay yatra’ (pilgrimage for justice). The march started on Ambedkar’s birthday and the intention was to appeal to Ambedkarites and Dalits to develop a Hindu unity.  

In recent years, too, the word ‘nyay’ has found many occurrences in speeches by BJP’s top brasses, especially in line with their pledge of “Congress-mukt Bharat”. Earlier this month, BJP IT minister Anurag Thakur took a dig at the Yatra and said that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi must first provide ‘nyay’ to the leaders deserting Congress instead of trying to maintain the hold of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. 

Where Does INDIA Bloc Stand On Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra? 

Congress’ second Yatra may help in getting the party some visibility and be a morale booster for the cadres while the BJP dominates headlines with Ram Mandir consecration and Union Budget. However, Congress has not been able to extend the same feelings towards the united Opposition’s INDIA bloc.  

Since its formation on June 23 last year at Patna, the overarching anti-BJP pre-poll coalition has not organised any joint rally. Nyay Yatra is Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra and its focus remains on the Congress. It does not have any direct co-ordination with the party’s allies in the bloc. With the Yatra scheduled to go on till March 20, the likelihood of an INDIA rally then appears to be bleak and derails the bloc’s efforts for a unified narrative. 

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had invited the heads of INDIA bloc parties for the yatra. However, a senior Trinamool Congress leader was quoted by The Hindu saying, “We cannot participate in a Congress event without an electoral understanding in place.” The opposition alliance partners earlier said that Gandhi should have planned it in a way to accommodate them in the respective states. Media reports note that JD(U) and SP were of the opinion that the grand old party needed to arrange electoral rallies on its way from east to west.  

However, a few times Gandhi has clarified that the aim of the Yatra is not elections. While for Gandhi, constitutional morality is the central concern of the foot march, for parties like SP, seat sharing has been the priority. A few weeks back SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said that Congress could have finalised the seat sharing before launching the Yatra.  

Later, Yadav also pointed out that he is “unlikely” to join it as he has flagged off SP’s own "Samvidhan Bachao, Desh Bachao Samajwadi PDA Yatra" from Lucknow.