The Rahul Gandhi-led 6,500 km Manipur to Mumbai bus yatra will commence from Sunday. The Congress has named it as “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”. The party believes that this yatra will benefit it in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. However, the party’s refusal to attribute any political motive to this yatra is baffling.
Will Rahul’s yatra really benefit the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls? Questions are being raised over both the timing and the starting place of the yatra. Secondly, Congress’ politics over Manipur is beyond comprehension.
The politics of Manipur or any other northeastern states does not have any bearing on the electoral dynamics in the northern part of the country. The vote bank of Hindi belt states will not be affected by the politics of Manipur. Why is the Congress so focused on Manipur then? Congress could have raised the Manipur violence in some other way.
The Nyay Yatra may not create the same impact as the Bharat Jodo Yatra the last time. In the first part of the yatra, Rahul Gandhi had covered a huge distance on foot, meeting and interacting with hundreds of people on the way. But this time, he is travelling by bus. The Congress had attributed the victory in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections to the Bharat Jodo Yatra. This suggests that the yatra was carried out with a political purpose.
Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal in Imphal said that the Nyay yatra had nothing to do with politics. He further said that this yatra was aimed at ensuring that the people got justice. While the yatra is being carried out a couple of months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, terming it as a non-political exercise is surprising. The issues to be raised during that yatra also have political significance. Last time, the Bharat Jodo Yatra had boosted the image of Rahul Gandhi. The issues that Congress raised during the first part of yatra were effective.
The core issues were ignored when the yatra entered the last stretch from Delhi to Kashmir. The issues related to Adani, Ambani and Congress’ appeasement politics overshadowed issues such as corruption, price rise, unemployment, farmers’ problems, etc. It was seen how BJP scored over Congress by raising the issues of the common people. As a result, Congress faced defeat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
All eyes will, therefore, be now on what issues Rahul Gandhi raises during the Nyay Yatra. The issues that Congress has finalised for the yatra include caste census, justice for women, youth, Dalits, women and tribals. Congress is working hard to make the Nyay Yatra a big success. Will this yatra be effective as it is being held just two months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls? The process of candidate selections will begin in February or March. As Rahul will contest the Lok Sabha polls himself, the Gandhi scion should focus on election preparations, but the yatra will take away a lot of the party’s time at such a crucial juncture. The crisis in the Congress will deepen further if it does not win the Lok Sabha polls after being out of power for ten years.
Meanwhile, BJP is already creating an atmosphere based on sentiments attached to Ram Mandir which will be inaugurated on January 22. The saffron party will continue to carry forward the Ram Mandir campaign. Will Rahul’s yatra be any answer to this issue? Congress has already declined to attend the consecration ceremony terming it as a BJP event.
Congress’ decision has triggered a massive debate across the country. BJP seized the opportunity to term Congress’ decision as something which is an anti-Ram stance of the grand old party. Certainly, the face-off between “Chalo Ayodhya” and “Nyay Yatra” would be interesting. Congress leaders cannot stop Rahul from carrying out the yatra even if they wish to do so now. In private conversations, some Congress leaders say that if Rahul decides to conclude this yatra in Ayodhya instead of Mumbai and names it “Chalo Ayodhya Yatra” then it could be a solid counter to BJP. Rahul Gandhi could mobilise the public in Ayodhya with the same issues for which he is going to Mumbai. If Congress wants to avoid being seen as doing appeasement politics it could avoid talking about Ram but it could talk about Ayodhya.