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Journalism of Courage
The Congress announced on Wednesday a Bharat Nyay Yatra by Rahul Gandhi, from Manipur to Maharashtra, between January 14 to March 30 next year, just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The yatra is touted to be the second leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, which he undertook from late 2022 to early this year.
As a part of the Bharat Nyay Yatra, the Congress MP is scheduled to cover 6,200 km and traverse through 14 states and 85 districts as against the 12 states, two Union territories and 75 districts that he covered during the Bharat Jodo Yatra over five months.
But, while the Congress would be hoping to reap electoral benefits from the Bharat Nyay Yatra, a look at the election results in areas from where his Bharat Jodo Yatra traversed throws up mixed results.
While the results were favourable in Karnataka and Telangana, the Yatra seems to have had little to no effect in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Interestingly, Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra had skipped poll-bound states like Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress was perceived as weak while it only touched upon Himachal Pradesh, which the party won, after the elections.
In Telangana too, Rahul chose not to take his Yatra to bypoll-bound Munugode even as he camped in neighbouring Hyderabad. Eventually, the Congress lost the bypoll to the BRS by over 10,000 votes.
The Assembly elections in the state were held on May 10 earlier this year. Rahul’s yatra entered the state on September 30, 2022, and travelled across the districts of Mysuru, Ballari and Raichur in 21 days. The yatra touched upon 20 Assembly segments.
In 2018, the BJP had won 9 of these 20 segments while the Congress had won 5. The JD(S) had won the remaining 6. In 2023, The Congress won 15 of the 20 seats, while the BJP and JD(S) were reduced to 2 and 3 seats, respectively. Compared to the 2018 polls, the Congress’s vote share in these 20 seats was up by 9.7%.
The Congress trumped the BJP in the polls, winning 135 of the 228 Assembly seats.
The Congress unseated the BRS government in the state following the November 30 Assembly polls to form its first government in the state, that was formed in 2014, led by Revanth Reddy.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the state on October 23 last year at Makhtal district and traversed through districts like Narayanpet, Mahbubnagar, ultimately reaching Hyderabad, in 12 days. It entered 29 Assembly segments during this time.
In 2018, the ruling BRS had won 22 of these constituencies while the remaining 7 were won by the AIMIM. The Congress did not have a single MLA representing these 29 seats. This time, the party managed to win 12 of these seats while the BRS emerged victorious in 10. The AIMIM retained the same seats as it had won in 2018.
The Congress’s vote share in the 29 seats was up by 6.75% in 2023 as the party won the state, securing 64 of the 117 seats.
The party’s electoral fortunes did not seem to have shown any effect of the yatra in the two Hindi heartland states.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Madhya Pradesh on November 23 last year and traversed through Ujjain and Indore districts in 16 days.
It covered 21 Assembly constituencies in all, of which the Congress had won 3 while the BJP had won 18 in 2018. In 2023, the BJP retained its hold, winning 17 of the 21 seats while the Congress emerged victorious in 4.
The party’s vote share in these 21 seats too fell by a drastic 11.3% and it lost the elections, securing only 66 of the total 230 seats in the state, while the BJP won 166.
In the case of Rajasthan, the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered on December 4 last year and traversed through the districts of Jhalawar, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur and Alwar over 18 days, crossing 22 Assembly segments.
In 2018, the Congress had won 14 of these seats while the BJP had won 5, while 3 others were won by Independents. In the 2023 Assembly polls, the BJP trounced the Congress in 11 of these seats, as the Congress won 9 while the Independents got 2 seats.
The Congress’s combined vote share in these seats rose by just over 3%, but the party lost the state to the BJP, which won 115 of the 199 seats that went to polls. The Congress was reduced to 69 seats in the state.
