At a time when Indian Politics and society seems divided beyond a point, India's grand old Political Party Indian National Congress has kicked off a 3570-km long Bharat Jodo Padyatra which is being led by its former president Rahul Gandhi. Stretching from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, the Yatra covers 12 States and two union territories in more than five months.
Rahul Gandhi will be criss-crossing all these states and will cover the distance alongwith 117 more Padyatris who have been named as Bharat Yatris. The Yatra drew a massive crowd in Tamil Nadu where CM MK Stalin, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Chhatisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel handed over khadi national flag to Rahul Gandhi.
Padyatris are scheduled to cover a total of 23 kms in a day in two shifts. The first shift starts at 7 in the morning and goes till 10 am and then interactions of Rahul Gandhi with several delegations and commoners start. After a brief break, the Padyatra resumes at 4 in the evening and goes till 7 pm.
Much is being talked about the containers in which the Padyatris alongwith Rahul Gandhi will be staying for the next five months. India's ruling party BJP has been targeting Congress and Rahul Gandhi for lavish containers which is rather a basic space to halt at night.
One might ask as what does the Congress expect with this mammoth yatra which no political leader has undertaken in last three decades? Congress says that as the institutions of the country especially the media are not giving the coverage to opposition parties, it's important to directly go to the common public and understand their problems. Congress wants to highlight communal politics, rising inflation and unemployment through this yatra. Congress attempts to galvanize people on these causes which affect the society. It attempts to bring the debate of important issues back on the prime time.
A lot is being asked about the route of the yatra which is not covering the election-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The party wanted a true Padyatra and not a bus or a Rath Yatra. Five routes were discussed by the yatra planning committee of the Congress before the route from Kanyakumari to Kashmir was finalized. The Yatra is meant to unite the people against communalism, unemployment and inflation instead of just focusing on a state election or two. Also, the party is contemplating a second leg of the Yatra from east to west or west to east after this first phase is over.
Congress also aims at massive cadre mobilization with the Padyatra. The media and the BJP have been trying to faults in the Padyatra, but all they have managed till now is the price of Rahul Gandhi's t-shirt.
Bharat Jodo Yatra is a Padyatra of one of its kind as no big leader has done such a massive outreach programme in the last several decades. A significant number of public participation is making it succeed for the Congress party.
Participation of 150 plus civil society leaders also makes this Yatra more significant as most of them were against the Congress party during its Government. This shows how even those who aren't part of the Congress feel the need for the Bharat Jodo Yatra today.
(The author is the Media Coordinator for Indian National Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra.)
