It is indisputable that throughout the 3,000-km Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi has attracted significant attention and audiences, even though the fact remains that he may not have set fire to the Ganges or the Cauvery in the south. Famous people and celebrities have travelled short distances with Rahul, including Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, activists and former AAP members, T M Krishna, a well-known Carnatic vocalist and recipient of the Magsaysay Award, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, and other Bollywood celebrities.
Source:- https://www.bharatjodoyatra.in/category/gallery/
A prolonged people's march is a political gesture of endurance. It rejects the allure of immediate fulfilment and urges caution rather than jumping to conclusions. It seeks consensus through dialogue. Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra is an appeal to bring about India's unification, with a focus on mending the deep rifts in society along caste and religious lines. An admirable goal that is also appropriate, yet the march is strangely tainted by party politics and seen more as an anti-BJP, anti-Modi march than as a noble effort to cure the country of the communal disease that is consuming its life force. The Bharat Jodo Yatra didn't seem to exhibit any arrogance or authoritarian pride, in contrast to the command-and-control mobilization used by right-wing parties.
Source:- https://www.bharatjodoyatra.in/category/gallery/page/3/
There is no denying that caste disputes and the gap between Hindus and Muslims have gotten worse since the BJP took office in 2014. Both at the federal level, where the BJP is in charge, and in the states, where able leaders of regional parties hold sway, authoritarian rule has expanded. Institutional autonomy has been reduced and assaults on journalism has been audacious. It remains unclear whether the spirit of the yatra will resonate far enough to reach those who don’t have enough belief in them.
Social workers, activists and writers participated in the yatra without any political inclination with the Congress in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, but in Kerala the yatra was largely generated by party members. Another question that arises will Congress see a much-awaited resurgence? The response has been tremendous, over 1.5 lakh participants showed up.
State secretary for the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Rahul Rajbhar's expectations were nuanced. A lot of work needs to be done, according to Rajbhar, to win back the faith of Dalits and OBCs (other backward castes), who have been seduced by claims of social advancement and upward mobility within the Hindu fold. "Inducement should be replaced by respect as the foundation of participation." It is reasonable for Congress to expect a resurgence from any campaign it leads, but it appears that the Bharat Jodo Yatra was not created to meet the party's urgent political needs. It appears to be the result of the realization that bringing the nation together will take more than party politics to succeed.
Source:- https://www.bharatjodoyatra.in/category/gallery/page/2/
Main aim of this yatra is of ending the politics of fear and hatred while also discussing the nation's deteriorating economy, rising unemployment and inflation. It is open invitation to all parties and leaders who want to join this yatra to protect democracy and be united. The yatra has so far travelled through a number of states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The main complaint of the Congress workers was that it lacked direction and doesn’t engage in a continuous mobilization. This yatra will boost the morale of Congress supporters and workers and it also provides a clarity in their ideology about their trust, brotherhood and unity against fear and hatred.
Returning to the issue of the yatra's success, party leaders such as Rahul try to dissociate the walkathon from election results. What happens if the Congress suffers yet another setback? Will that weaken the fervour the Congress has worked so hard to generate around the yatra over the past months? What about Rahul's silence about the beating of Muslims by guys posing as police officers in Kheda, Gujarat, for allegedly throwing stones at a Garba? The Bharat Jodo Yatra's goal is to bring the nation together in opposition to hatred and division, as its name suggests. So why did Congress remain silent over the Kheda incident? Rahul, like Kejriwal, may think that ignoring these instances may be politically wise in light of the upcoming Assembly elections, despite waxing lyrically against the politics of rage, hate, and division.
Source:- https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/bharat-jodo-yatra-the-message-and-the-messenger
It is not appropriate to evaluate the Bharat Jodo Yatra just in terms of its potential electoral impact. I believe that the inability of the opposition especially, Congress to stop this authoritarian trend has led to our increasing desperation in more recent years. The concept of Bharat Jodo has the potential to unite the general populace as well as opposing warring parties and factions because of its broad appeal. Thus, it has the potential to mobilize the electorate, which includes all of us, toward an outcome that is currently unpredictable. At the very least, the concept deserves to be given a fair chance.
Article by:- Shashank Subramani
Edited by:- Estelle T Wahengbam
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