Next Rahul Yatra: From East to West

There is speculation in political circles that former Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, who just completed his over 3,500 kilometers Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, may now embark on yet another similar journey on foot from East to West India, passing through the populous states of the Hindi heartland including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, besides West Bengal and Odisha.
Many Congress activists believe that it has now become extremely important for the former party chief to consolidate his position, since the Yatra has helped him to undergo an image makeover. Whether this new voyage materialises is completely dependent on how those who planned the just concluded Yatra work out the logistics.
Significantly, in the early 1970s, at the Indore session of the Indian Youth Congress, a fight reportedly broke out between activists from Southern India led by Tulsi Dasappa and some UP leaders on the issue of the organisation’s presidentship. UP’s claim was contested by the southern states.
To pacify the delegates, the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shyama Charan Shukla asked his colleague and poet, Kavi Inderjit Singh Tulsi to recite some couplets.
The Kavi took the stage and started with his first line, which was “Kashmir se Kanyakumari tak, sara desh hamara hai”. At this point, the late Rati Ram Bhatti, who was the vice president of the UP Youth Congress, snatched the mike and said, “Yeh to hum sab bol sakte hain. Kashmir se Kanyakumari tak, Guwahati se Chowpatty tak and Kamlapati Tripathi se Rati Ram Bhatti tak, sara desh hamara hai.”
Bhatti’s reference also covered the caste spectrum, and in this altercation, a compromise formula was worked out where it was decided to appoint Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, the Bengal stalwart as the IYC chief.
Interestingly, Rahul, if indeed he undertakes the second journey from East to West would be making a big political statement as well and may in the process try and revive the Congress in the states where it marginally exists.
There has also been a lot of talk regarding Rahul’s future moves and how he would become politically relevant and perhaps the star campaigner for his party in the Assembly as well as Parliamentary elections. Nine states are slated to have Assembly elections this year, and amongst the bigger ones, the Congress has the best chance in Karnataka. However, while the BJP has started its poll campaign in full throttle with the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, slated to go to Karnataka for the third time this year, nothing is known about the Congress blueprint.
The Congress plenary is being held later this month at Raipur and preparations are on, in full swing. It is expected that the party would have an elected Working Committee after many years and may also make major organizational changes. While the focus has so far been on Rahul, the spotlight in Raipur will be on the AICC president, Mallikarjun Kharge, whose actions and decisions would be closely scrutinised. Kharge is a very seasoned politician and may introduce some new elements in the party’s agenda which have so far been ignored.
What needs to be observed carefully is whether Kharge on the eve of the Karnataka election in his home state, takes an independent line which is at variance with that of the Gandhis. Although, it appears to be unlikely at this point, yet such a development has happened in the past. In 1977, when Indira Gandhi got K. Brahmananda Reddy elected as the party chief, he did not even wait for her to arrive before delivering his first speech at a party forum.
Congress is an extremely complex entity and here nothing happens as per the plan, but always by default. There are a very few leaders left, who can pick up the phone and speak to leaders of other political parties.
The revival of the Congress should be central to its plan. First and foremost, the party has to somehow resurrect its original vote base of Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims, if it has to challenge the BJP and the regional players. Over the past several decades, the Congress vote base has moved to other parties leading to its present state. Secondly, the Congress must realise that an alliance with regional players is not going to be easy, since they occupy the space which was once held by the grand old party. This was evident when none of the major parties, who were invited to the concluding function of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar, participated in the finale.
The Congress must allow some of the leaders who are doing well in their states to function independently. For instance, Kamal Nath, Ashok Gehlot, Bhupinder Singh Hooda amongst others must be given their due political importance.
The BJP is appearing to be strong, because it has Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda besides many other leaders and a robust cadre to face any election. They have a strategy in place and believe that if Rahul is pitted against Modi for 2024, the people would certainly choose the current Prime Minister despite Rahul’s image makeover. The Congress has ignored its organisation for too long and needs to somehow strengthen it once again.
Where Rahul is concerned, he should take calibrated steps keeping in view the opposition he faces. The situation could rapidly change, if Rahul during the Raipur AICC session, declares that he would not be the candidate for Prime Ministership. This could be an interesting game changer. Between us.