It’s been slightly more than a 100 days that Congress’s much anticipated Bharat Jodo Yatra was flagged off from Kanyakumari. This is arguably the party’s most ambitious outreach program in a very very long time. It is meant to cover more than 3500 kilometres, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and stretch over a period of 150 days. That is ambitious.

While a 100 are hardly enough to judge the long-term impact of this journey, it is also a fact that 100 days do give us some idea about the immediate effect that this journey might have had.

The objectives:

A downside of the authoritarian regime in Delhi has resulted in a virtual silencing of the opposition voices from the national discourse. It has been a grouse of INC and other opposition parties, justifiably so, that the their messages and programs do not reach the citizens of this country. So one of the objectives has been to bypass the media and take message to the audience directly. The party has been steadfast in maintaining that this Yatra is not being organised with an eye on the polls. But an attempt to provide a much needed healing touch to a nation whose society appears to be fractured in an environment of hate and bigotry. Another objective has been to lend an ear to the citizens and the issues that affect their daily lives. But the biggest objective must be to re-energise and revitalize the workers and the organization at the grassroot level. The party has been hard at work to maintain that this is an inclusive initiative to attract the support of non Congress parties as well as eminent citizens. The fact that the main group of Yatris are not carrying party flags and the participation of Yogendra Yadav is a clear pointer towards that. More symbolic have been the visuals of MK Stalin of DMK handing over the national flag to Rahul Gandhi to mark the beginning of the Yatra from Kanyakumari. This has been rather significant in terms of optics.

Response and Reactions:

While the initial response in the days leading upto the D-Day had been lukewarm, the program has gathered momentum as it made its way to Kerala from Tamil Nadu. Visuals of 1000s of people joining the march or thronging on the roadside to catch a glimpse of the march have been quite frequent and must have gladdened the hearts of the organizers. The euphoria though needs to be tempered with the fact that Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the two states where Rahul Gandhi enjoys a significant lead over Narendra Modi in terms of personal popularity. So the response would be on expected lines.

What was expected to always be a matter of interest was the reactions from other political parties. DMK made its stand clear on the very first day. As have the constituents of UDF in Kerala. BJP had spent a better part of the last two months dismissing Bharat Jodo Yatra as a non starter, a failed experiment. But once the Yatra started, they came out with claws and fangs. Criticising every move, from the price of Rahul Gandhi’s t-shirt to the living arrangements made for the participants. And they have been helped by the media In amplifying their discomfort. Arvind Kejriwal, who is pitching himself as the main contender to Modi announced a MAKE INDIA NO. 1 AGAIN yatra from Hisar, coinciding with Congress’s Yatra. But that fizzled out on the same day. But the most surprising reaction has come from the Left. The Kerala unit of CPIM, to be precise. The day the Yatra entered Kerala, the party’s official handle posted a tweet criticising the route of the Yatra. They have taken offence of the fact that Rahul Gandhi would be spending 18 days in Kerala and only 2 in Uttar Pradesh. They used this to question the real intent of the Yatra. But they simply overlooked that he would be spending 19 days in Karnataka, and significant amount of time in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, where either BJP is in power or are the principal opposition. This entire argument was flagged off by Prashant Kishore in an interview and was picked up from their by CPIM and others. Whatever might be the argument, the CPIM’s response was unfortunate and betrayed a certain degree of insecurity. But Congress would be well advised to make a clear distinction between the Kerala unit of CPIM and the party as a whole.

After getting tremendous response in the South, it would be interesting to see the buzz the Yatra generates in the Hindi Heartland. And we will keep an eye on it, going forward.

But so far, Maharastra has been the most critical state covered by Rahul Gandhi and Bharat Jodo Yatra. For quite a few reasons.

1. Maharashtra literally serves as the buffer zone between the North-South divide. Culturally. Linguistically. Ideologically.

1. Apart from being the state which has the nation’s commercial capital in form of Bombay, Maharashtra is also the home-base of RSS. It’s no surprise that some of the leading RSS-Hindutva icons like Savarkar, Hedgewar and Golwalkar come from Maharashtra.

1. Maharashtra is the land of social reform movements like Prarthana Samaj and Satyasodhak Movement. Not to forget probably the most important of all, the Ambedkarite Movement.

1. Last, but definitely not the least, Maharashtra is an important marker for possibilities when it comes to modern day coalition politics. It was the first state on the Yatra route in which alliances would prove to be extremely critical in the run up to Loksabha elections of 2024.

The journey has now made it's way into Rajasthan via Madhya Pradesh. And the response has been as positive as in the previous states, if not more. These 2 states, along with Karnataka will be going for polls next year.

What this yatra has achieved so far:

• This has rejuvenated the party faithfuls and cadre at the grassroot level. The fact that it has managed to sustain its momentum for this long is a testament to that.
• The Bharat Jodo Yatra had brought the rival factions of the party together. Be it Karnataka, where the DK Shivakumar faction is said to be at loggerheads with that of Siddaramaiah, or the factions of Gehlot and Pilot in Rajasthan, the leaders have managed to keep aside their differences in the interest of the Yatra.
• This Yatra is also about the rebranding of Rahul Gandhi. It is important to remember that his rivals have spent crores and crores in order to just malign his image. And this has been going on for almost a decade. Repeated amplification by the media and a vicious ecosystem has only reinforced the imagery of an inaccessible, aloof and non serious politician. What this Yatra has done is to break this cycle of propaganda. Mr. Gandhi has come across as an empthetic, accessible and affable human being. His approval ratings have also gone up in States through which this Yatra has passed.
• While the Yatra has not caused a dent in the PM’s popularity, or won over committed BJP voters, what it has done is consolidating sections already opposed to the BJP, behind Congress.
• While parties like TMC, SP, RJD, JDU have by and large remained non commital so far, while allies, old and new, NCP and Shiva Sena (Thackeray faction) have joined and endorsed the Yatra. This has also reinforced Congress’ position as the fulcrum of any anti-BJP front.
• Finally, Bharat Jodo Yatra has answered that one question that had been bugging the party for almost a decade, where is Congress? Congress is there on the streets.

Criticism:

Any ambitious plan is bound to have criticisms in it’s planning and implementation. While there is a central committee overseeing the Yatra, the organising at the state levels have been left to the respective state units. In such situations, there is a tendency of lacking scrutiny. Certain controversial situations, that could have and should have been avoided, are a proof of that.

But the biggest misgivings about Bharat Jodo Yatra are about the route that this padayatra is supposed to cover. A vast swathe of India seems to have been left out of it. The east coast, the North East, Gujarat, Bengal and Bihar, all these states are missing from the route. But let us look at it in another way.

• If one were to cover the entire length, breadth and the heart of this country, this Yatra would almost never end. And the time taken to complete one such Yatra would overlap two election cycles. The party however has already proposed a West to East Yatra for next year. They are also organising state level yatras in the state which do not feature in the main route.

• This Yatra is about connecting with the people. But it is also about creating positive vibes and optics. If marshalling local support and resources. The states which this Yatra will go through are the ones where the party’s organizations are the strongest. They have the capacity to sustain the momentum over a week or more. Honestly, the state units of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha or Bengal would have a tough time doing the same for even an entire day. Maybe they would be better prepared for the Yatra next year.

Conclusion:

This Yatra has evoked a response that has been consistently positive. But the area covered so far have been fairly free of communal tension and rancour. L

This Yatra is about reinvention of India. But this Yatra is also about the reinvention and rebranding of Rahul Gandhi as a leader. This is about putting to rest all suggestions of his being a reluctant politician, ill at ease in the role of one. The images and visuals emerging from the initial phase of this journey have been warm and heart touching. He clearly doesn’t look like someone who’s inaccessible. In fact, the informal interactive moments with the general public signify just the opposite. He looks sincere, genuine with just that hint of disarming awkwardness. The question is what do his advisors and the party propose to do of it?

Is there a narrative at works, that will take shape and emerge by the end of Bharat Jodo Yatra? Because, when it comes to national elections, it is essential to have one overarching narrative. 2014 worked on Modi’s “56 inch chest”, the alpha male. The Congress could position Rahul Gandhi as the “real 56 inch chest, with a human heart beneath it”. A Maybe, this journey would then turn out to be the long road to redemption. For him. For Congress. For India.