Bharat Jodo Yatra! Rahul Gandhi has made a mark, but is it enough to take on mighty BJP?
4 min read
Bengaluru: It’s been 40 days since All India Congress Committee (AICC) former President Rahul Gandhi embarked on Bharat Jodo Yatra, setting on foot, from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, much has been lauded and flayed by the people from various fields.
With a largest democratic country like India, consent and dissent are a part of the Constitution as envisaged by its architect Dr B R Ambedkar to provide a level playing field.
Rahul Gandhi’s outfit especially the pricey t-shirt turned out to be the posit for criticism for the rivals mainly BJP to fire its first salvo. While the Congress leaders were quick to remind saffron leaders about the shiny costumes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that defined sartorial elegance, unlike his predecessors.
While the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a fight against inflation, rising unemployment and several other issues plaguing the country under the eight years rule of BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the centre, it is no more a secret that the Gandhi scion is leading the charge from the front with an eye on elections, mainly the next general elections to Lok Sabha in 2024.
As argued by Congress leaders, it is to ‘Jodo Bharat’ (To unite India) as the current BJP dispensation at the Centre is on ‘Thodo Bharat’ (breaking India by polarising communities).
Unfazed by the vituperative remarks of failing to lead the grand old party to victory in 2014 and 2019 elections, Rahul is out to rebuild the organisation from the grassroots. But, what impedes him is the internal bickering among the leaders irrespective of State, with Karnataka too not an exception (as the leaders are split between KPCC President D K Shivakumar and Opposition leader and former CM Siddaramaiah, both nurturing CM dreams).
It’s a similar reason due to which Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has to withdraw from his decision to contest AICC Presidential poll in the last minute, as his supporting MLAs were averse to the possibility of his political bete noire Sachin Pilot succeeding him.
Returning to Rahul’s efforts, a Gandhi scion who banked upon his mother and Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi who snatched the victory from the same BJP in 2004 elections, by cobbling up a formidable alliance under United Progressive Alliance ( UPA), with economic expert Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister ( not to forget Sonia sacrificed the PM’S post due to the tearing remarks of Opposition parties led by BJP due to her Italy origin), Congress successfully ruled for a decade till 2014.
So also he relied upon many other senior Congressmen, who were groomed by his ancestors- from his grandmother Indira Gandhi to his father and late PM Rajiv Gandhi and also his mother, besides building a coterie of his own and youth leaders.
Amid this many deserted the party, but not without blaming Gandhis for all the poll debacle. Even on the eve of the Yatra, came a shocker with another veteran Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad quitting the party, to form his own party recently, with Jammu and Kashmir as its base.
Not deterred Rahul launched the Yatra and after traversing through three States- Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka on the back of overwhelming response, it has reached Telangana, kindling hope among a section of the society especially progressive thinkers about the impact the Congress could make in the coming days, both in State and national political arena.
Of late, there have been comparisons on social media equating the Yatra with that of Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle. Not to ignore, how Rahul has been able to make an impact, with an undying spirit that has created ripples to an extent in BJP.
With M Mallikarjun Kharge poised to become the next AICC President, a non-Gandhi to helm the party after a gap of 24 years, there will surely be a political churning to look out for, as Gandhis perpetuating rule in the party was also one of the ammunitions for the rivals to create a negative image in the name of dynastic politics.
To sum up, Rahul has hit the ground with tremors certainly being felt in BJP. But still what haunts many including Congressmen is, is it enough to take on the mighty BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah duo, considered as political mavericks for now.
Only time has to answer with still 2500 km left for the Yatra to reach its culmination point Kashmir in another 110 days.
– Team MysoorunewsÂ
Mysooru News
