Bharat Jodo Yatra Bharat Jodo Yatra started from Kanyakumari and reached Jammu and Kashmir after passing through 12 states. After 145 days, Rahul Gandhi’s journey ended in Srinagar. The question is, will the Congress get any political benefit from this visit?
Rahul Gandhi in Srinagar during ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’
The journey of any political party is for political purpose. The Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi started on 7 September 2022. The draft of this yatra was prepared during last year’s Udaipur Chintan Shivir in Rajasthan. In the same Chintan Shivir, it was resolved by the Congress party that there is a need to organize such a cultural tour across the country through which one can get a chance to connect directly with the public. Because the Congress has been believing that whether it is the year 2014 or 2019, in both the Lok Sabha elections, the distance from the public has proved to be a heavy burden for the party.
Now, when former Congress President and MP Rahul Gandhi held a press conference after unfurling the tricolor at Lal Chowk in Srinagar and explained in detail the achievements of his journey, he expressed himself as the greatest joy of connecting with the public. Rahul Gandhi thanked all the people who participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra and said that the public’s support is in the interest of the country.
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What did Rahul Gandhi get?
Rahul Gandhi has said that during this visit he has realized that today weak people are living in an atmosphere of fear, there is a dire need to remove this fear from their hearts. According to Rahul, he has got many experiences from this journey. Got to learn a lot.
Rahul Gandhi has described this visit as very important for him. He said that he got a chance to have direct talks with the unemployed and the farmers. Got to go among people to understand their problems and connect with them. Rahul Gandhi also said that wherever he went, people got immense affection. He came to know what is the real problem of the people.
What will be the political benefit?
In the assembly elections of the year 2022, he had brought some bad and some good results for the Congress. The Congress lost Punjab with 117 assembly seats, where it had to be content with just 18 seats, but at the end of the year it got 40 seats in Himachal Pradesh, which had 68 assembly seats. Congress lost one state and got another state. Thus, the Congress still has three states in its account – Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
The effect of travel seen in Himachal?
The Congress party regained Himachal amid the BJP wave in the Modi era. However, the way the BJP celebrated the Gujarat victory grandly from Ahmedabad to Delhi, the Congress could not capitalize on the Himachal victory. But sometimes Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajeev Shukla in Shimla and Priyanka Gandhi herself in Bengaluru tried to attribute this victory to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Will get profit in 2023 and 2024?
This year i.e. 2023 is the semi-final of power. The nine states that have assembly elections this year are Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram. There are two such states in these where there is a Congress government. For example, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are two such states where the Congress party has a challenge to save its government. On the other hand, if the Congress has to make a strong position in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, then for that the party will have to improve its performance in other states as well. Because there is no doubt that the way for 2024 is going to be clear only with the results of 2023.
Even though Rahul Gandhi and all the veteran leaders of Congress are excited by the success and discussion of Bharat Jodo Yatra, but the results of these states will decide the future of Congress.
Will opposition unity be seen?
Leaders of many opposition parties have been seen walking along with Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Both Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have got support from Jammu and Kashmir. Leaders of ruling RJD and JDU are together in Bihar, NCP and Shiv Sena are also together in Maharashtra while JMM in Jharkhand. This is the reason why 21 opposition parties have been invited by the Congress party to attend the closing ceremony on 30th January. Apart from TMC, SP, BSP, DMK, CPI, CPM, Farooq-Umar father-son and Lalu-Tejashwi father-son have also been specially invited.
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