Bharat Jodo Yatra successful but must work to translate it into votes: Shashi Tharoor

On Thursday, he took part in the curtain raiser event for the 14th edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) scheduled from January 12 to 15 at the Oxford Book Store.

Speaking to reporters on the sideline of the event, Tharoor said, “It (Bharat Jodo Yatra) has been a huge success and I think it has captured the imagination of the public wherever it has gone. It has shown that some of the caricaturing of Rahul Gandhi by people now in-charge of our country can be dispelled by his own actions, showing that he is not the way they have portrayed him so. The way he has personally been received, has done wonders for his image. Now translating this into votes is the next challenge and that doesn’t follow axiomatically. People, who are not traditionally associated with the Congress, have gone on and extended their support to the march. This is very encouraging.”

Responding to the question from The Indian Express whether the threat of an emerging Covid-19 situation could jeopardise the success of the yatra, Tharoor said, “We are coming towards the end. The plan was to finish on January 26. The variants which are doing so much damages in China were already identified in India on June/July and have not caused any major calamity. Therefore, we may not have any reason to fear. But of course, with Covid-19, we have discovered in the course of 2020, 2021 and 2022, that there can be various different stories changing as it goes along. So, we need to be alert.”

Earlier this week, the Congress had accused the central government of using Covid-19 as an excuse to stop the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Elaborating on the yatra, the Congress leader said the BJP government in the Centre is shaken by the success of the march. “I do get the impression that the government, by saying that the Covid-19 made the yatra dangerous, was signalling that it is extremely concerned about the success of the yatra. My hope is that by allowing the yatra to come to its planned conclusion, the government could put democracy ahead of the narrow political interest of the ruling party,” he said.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP also said that unity of Opposition parties, especially the regional powers, is “desirable” against the BJP. “It is very early but it is very desirable. If at all we have a chance to offer the country an alternative government, next time it is bound to be a coalition because there are many states in the country where regional parties are stronger than the Congress. The Congress is bound to be the single largest Opposition party. But around it, if you don’t have a willing coalition of regional parties, then you will never be able to assemble the majority numbers you need to form the government. That is essentially going to be a necessary strategy and I would certainly hope that all work in a constructive spirit otherwise we would be stuck again with the kind of majoritarian rule that all these parties are individually objecting to in their states and nationally. So why not do it collectively?” he asked.

While speaking at the event, Tharoor said that had it not been for the Covid-19 pandemic, protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would have changed the political discourse of the country.