Rahul Gandhi Yatra 2.0: From Manipur to Mumbai, Congress leader to cover several vital LS states

Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, which ended almost a year ago, had lasted five months, during which he had walked from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Kashmir.

Announcing details of the Bharat Nyay Yatra, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said, “The Congress Working Committee on December 21 gave an opinion that Rahul Gandhiji should start a yatra from East to West. Rahul Gandhiji has agreed to fulfill the wish of the CWC.”

He added that the Bharat Nyay Yatra will cover 6,200 km, and span 85 districts across 14 states – Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

This is substantially more than the 4,000-odd km covered under the Bharat Jodo Yatra, over five months.

The Congress hopes to achieve a larger distance in a shorter time by doing this yatra mostly on bus, with some short stretches of walking.

On selection of Manipur for starting the yatra, Venugopal said, “We want to try to heal the wounds of what has happened in Manipur. This yatra is for love and affection.”

At the same time, Venugopal asserted that it will not be a political yatra, and the party wanted to raise the issues affecting the common people – the Congress had asserted the same during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Venugopal said that leaders will keep joining the yatra – which he said would be “historic” – at different locations.

Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh said: “After Bharat Jodo Yatra, now the Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi is taking out Bharat Nyay Yatra.”

The difference

Ramesh said that during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul had made people aware of three issues prevalent in the country — economic disparity, social polarization and political dictatorship. The Bharat Nyay Yatra, he said, would focus on “arthik nyay, samajik nyay, rajnitik nya (economic, social and political justice)”, and on “protecting” democracy and the Constitution.

NYAY incidentally was one of the buzzwords for the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when it had suggested a Nyuntam Aay Yojana (or NYAY), that is a minimum income plan.

“We will assure on behalf of the Congress and Rahul Gandhi that the party is committed to making economic, social and political justice available to people,” Ramesh said.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra was anchored in the Preamble’s pillars of liberty, equality and fraternity, while the Bharat Nyay Yatra would be anchored in the Preamble’s very first pillar of justice – social, economic and political – Ramesh said. “The repeated assaults on the Constitution will not be allowed to succeed!”
On the yatra being done mostly on bus this time, Venugopal said: “There is no problem regarding walking. Now we are going for a different mode.”

The Bharat Jodo Yatra had begun on September 7, 2022, from Kanyakumari, and traversed 12 states and two Union territories, before concluding on January 30 in Srinagar. It covered 75 districts and 76 Lok Sabha constituencies in over 145 days.

The Congress had credited the yatra for the party’s victory in the Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh in December last year and in Karnataka in May this year.

Political significance

From the point of view of the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharat Nyay Yatra’s stretch through West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra – states with a large number of MP seats – is significant.

In all, the 14 states which Bharat Nyay Yatra will cross account for 355 Lok Sabha seats, or nearly 65% of the total. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won 236 of these seats, with the Congress getting only 14.

The Congress also faced defeat in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly polls recently.

Besides, the Bharat Nyay Yatra will cover states where the Congress is expected to face maximum challenges when it comes to seat-sharing from allies of INDIA parties – West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

How the local allies support Rahul during the yatra in their respective states will have to be seen. INDIA bloc parties are planning a joint campaign in form of rallies and meetings during the same period at different locations.

It is also interesting that Rahul’s yatra plans – putting him front and centre of the Congress Lok Sabha campaign — have been unveiled days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s suggestion at an INDIA meeting that Kharge, a Dalit, be named the PM candidate of the alliance.

Kharge had asserted that the alliance need not project a PM face, underlining that the immediate and urgent task at hand was to win the elections.

Where the yatra routes meet

Rahul had covered parts of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan during the Bharat Jodo Yatra too.

In Maharashtra, he had walked through Degloor, Nanded, Hingoli, Washim, Akola, Buldhana and Jalgaon Jamod. In Madhya Pradesh, he had crossed Khandwa, Khargone, Indore, Ujjain and Agar Malwa.

In Rajasthan, he had taken out the yatra in Jhalawar, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa and Alwar. While in UP, he had briefly touched the western parts, passing through Ghaziabad, Baghpat and Shamli.