For the Congress, the proposed Bharat Jodo Yatra is an opportunity to regain national relevance ahead of the 2024 national polls while the BJP’s Sneh Yatra is an attempt to reach out to the left-out segments, cover the gaps and consolidate its position, reports Amit Agnihotri
Ahead of the 2024 national elections, political yatras seem to have become the order of the day as both the Congress and the BJP are trying to reach out to the voters.
The Congress plans to launch a nationwide yatra from Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari down south from October 2, on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The grand old party has termed the foot march the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is the Congress response to the BJP’s alleged divisive politics.
The ruling party in turn is gearing up to conduct its own Sneh Yatra (affection march) across the country to establish connection with the downtrodden sections of society.
The plan is the brainchild of PM Modi, who first mentioned the idea at the party’s recent conclave in Hyderabad.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had announced the party’s nationwide yatra at the Udaipur “Chintan Shivir” in May, saying, “The yatra is to strengthen the bonds of social harmony that are under stress, to preserve the foundational values of our Constitution that are under assault and to highlight the day-to-day concerns of crores of our people.”
The first meeting of the Central Planning Group for Bharat Jodo Yatra, headed by veteran Digvijay Singh, took place on June 5. Rahul Gandhi also attended the meeting in which Jairam Ramesh, Shashi Tharoor, Jothi Mani, Indian Youth Congress chief B V Srinivas, Mahila Congress chief Netta D’Souza and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) president Neeraj Kundan were also present.
Through the nationwide yatra, the Congress is trying to revive the party across the states. The party lost the 2014 and the 2019 national elections and is currently in power in only two states Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The party is trying to regain its original character that was shaped during decades of struggle before the country’s freedom in 1947. “Exactly 80 years ago, in the year 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave a call to the nation, “Quit India” or “Bharat Chodo”! In the year, 2022, our call to the nation is “Unite India” or “Bharat Jodo”,” the Udaipur Nav Sankalp Declaration reads.
Explaining the yatra at the Chintan Shivir, Rahul Gandhi had said a nationwide effort was needed to re-establish the party’s connect with the people.
