Placing ‘the Family’ at the heart of the political narrative was always the purpose of the yatra.
The purpose of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, in the absence of any sign of disintegration in any part of the country, is purely rebranding “Brand Gandhi” and the family. Placing “the Family” at the heart of the political narrative was always the purpose of the yatra, since it was the Family and not the country in crisis. What else would explain the presence of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Robert Vadra and their son Raihan Vadra in the Khargone Madhya Pradesh leg of the yatra? Obviously, the party has lost its leaders, some of them to the BJP and some of them to other regional parties, so that the only “star campaigners” are members of “the Family” in the yatra. It leaves no one in doubt that “Brand Gandhi” is being rebranded again for the purpose of placing the family at the heart of the Congress party at a time when the party is in deep crisis in different parts of the country. There has been no effort to highlight any groundwork of other Congress leaders in different states, massive preparations are made for a show of unity and strength state after state and reaffirm their “loyalty” to brand Gandhi. If one were to count any Congress leader of mass following in a position of authority in the party, we would not be able to cross the single digit since everyone has been sacrificed at the altar of the Family.
The presence of young next generation Gandhi family members in the yatra is a message to the rank and file workers in the party that the next chain of command is ready for taking its much deserved position in the party. Everyone regardless of family status deserves a chance in politics if they aspire to serve the people, but there is no doubt that the party through its social media campaign and much advertised PR campaign is sending messages to the people that the Family is here to stay and lead the Congress party. If it isn’t Rahul, then we have Priyanka and if not Priyanka then the new generation within the Family is ready to take over a party which allowed real inner part democracy to wither away. No effort has been made to define what “Bharat Jodo” is all about and what is the Congress party stance on some of the major national and international issues. For instance, the G20 Presidency is a historic moment for the country and a time to set the policy rolling for the next couple of years, yet we have not heard a single policy perspective of the Congress party. For the longest time the voter is being led to believe that the yatra is about them or this country, if that were the case we have heard the party’s position on key issues in the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh where Mr Rahul Gandhi chose to stay away for most of the election. If this isn’t a signal about the party’s stance on the serious democratic exercise that takes place every five years we should be worried since the message is clear—everything is relegated to the background when brand “Gandhi” is being relaunched again. If the party hopes to enthuse the rank and file for the 2024 general elections, they are not even fighting ready as they have been shown that important state elections can be ignored, a full-blown crisis in Rajasthan can be sidestepped, and ideological clarity is not needed.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra has succeeded in only one aspect—positioning Brand Gandhi at the heart of the Congress party and the Family as the very essence of the party.
Dr Aishwarya Pandit Sharma is Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School.