As Rahul Gandhi sets off on another yatra, recalling the highs and lows of the Bharat Jodo campaign

The yatra drew the spotlight throughout, with the Congress asserting time and again that the party was able to establish a people’s connect, renergise its base and reap political dividends:

The beginning in Tamil Nadu (September 7)

Before kickstarting the march, Rahul paid tributes at his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial in Sriperumbudur in the state. He then launched the yatra and took on the BJP on its patriotism pitch — the party had introduced its Har Ghar Tiranga campaign the month before, to coincide with Independence Day — accusing it and the RSS of treating the Tricolour as their “personal property”, and arguing that the national flag “does not belong to any particular religion”.

The CPI(M) – Congress battleground

The Kerala leg of the Yatra, starting September 10, made news throughout the 18 days it was in the coastal state, with the BJP and the CPI(M) launching attacks. From criticism of the Yatra route to hitting out at the use of Hindutva idealogue V D Savarkar’s photo, which was included in a banner welcoming Rahul, the foot march consistently drew the ire of the Congress’s rivals. Their bonhomie in the rest of India notwithstanding, the Left and Congress remain main rivals in Kerala.

A win that followed

Much was at stake as the Yatra entered Karnataka on September 20, 2022. The party state unit was fractured. Leading up to the Yatra, there were reports of a divide between the party’s top two, Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar.

The leaders, however, managed to put differences aside and put up a united front. Former party president Sonia Gandhi also joined the Yatra in Mysuru, which spent a total of 22 days in the state. Family members of Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh who was killed in 2017 walked along with Rahul.

A much-needed boost followed for the Congress in May this year, after its string of poll losses, with a resounding win in Karnataka.

Another South India win

In October, the Yatra was in Telangana for 13 days. Party leaders also hoped its effect would rub off on the high-stakes Munugode Assembly seat by-election held in November, though that did not happen. However, a year later, after the Congress trounced the Bharat Rashtra Samithi to form the government in Telangana, Congress leaders were quick to credit the Yatra for the party’s performance.

A larger section of the route Rahul covered fell in the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district. Of the 14 Assembly segments here, the Congress managed to wrest 12 from the BRS.

The controversies

Days after the yatra began, Rahul found himself at the centre of a political row after BJP cited a video of his meeting with a controversial Christian priest named George Ponniah in Tamil Nadu and alleged that it shows the “anti-Hindu” face of the opposition party and exposes the “reality” of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra‘. In the video, Ponnaiah can be heard telling Rahul that Jesus is a real God, unlike Shakti.

In Maharashtra, Rahul drew backlash from the BJP and the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena when he attacked Savarkar, raking up the issue of his mercy petition to the British. Ally Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena also publicly disagreed with Rahul’s remarks.

During this leg, Rahul also criticised the RSS for using the term “vanvasis (forest residents)” for “Adivasis (indigenous people)”.

Another image from the Yatra that triggered a row was that of social activist Medha Patkar walking along with Rahul. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders turned it into a poll issue during the campaign for the Gujarat Assembly elections in December that year, pointing out that Patkar was a major figure of protest against the Sardar Sarovar Dam project and calling her, by extension, “anti-development”.

The temple-run, the philosophy

In Madhya Pradesh, the first Hindi heartland state where the Yatra entered, Rahul offered prayers at the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain and attacked the BJP government saying that it disrespects those who toil hard such as workers, farmers and small businessmen — the real “tapasvis”, akin to Hindu gods Shiva, Rama, and Krishna.

At a press conference, Rahul turned philosophical and said “he had let go of Rahul Gandhi many years ago”. When asked about his learnings from the Yatra at a press conference, he said, “Rahul Gandhi ko maine bohot saalon pehle chhod diya. Rahul Gandhi aapke dimag main hai, mere dimag main hai hi nahin. (I let go of Rahul Gandhi years ago. Rahul Gandhi is in your mind, not mine). Try and understand, this is our country’s philosophy.”

The social media persona

Mocked by rivals, particularly the BJP, as a privileged dynast removed from the daily grind of most Indians, Rahul has tried several reinventions of his image over his political career. And social media was integral to this reinvention during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. While interspersed with a few rallies, the Yatra’s main focus was personal interactions of Rahul with a cross-section of people, duly captured by professional videographers and photographers from external agencies.

The conclusion and a show of Opposition strength

Speaking at a rally to mark the finale of the Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 30, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he was warned that he might be attacked in Kashmir but, “people here did not give me hand grenades but hearts full of love”. He added that BJP members could not walk like this in Jammu and Kashmir because “they are scared”. He attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, and the RSS of “instigating violence” but not understanding the meaning of pain the way it is understood by Kashmiris, the families of armed forces killed on the line of duty, or him.

This was also the first show of Opposition strength during the Yatra, with leaders of several national and regional parties such as the DMK, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Bahujan Samaj Party, National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party and the CPI, among others, sharing the stage with Congress leaders at a rally held amidst snowfall.

Actors, civil society members join in

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, actor Swara Bhasker, musician-activist T M Krishna, former special director of the Intelligence Bureau and former secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) AS Daulat, actors Pooja Bhatt, Amol Palekar, Sandhya Gokhale, and television actors Sushant Singh and Kamya Punjabi walked with Rahul at different points in the yatra.