The two yatras by two political leaders, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party, seem ill-timed and totally unplanned. Congress party’s yatra appears more as a knee-jerk response to the spate of resignations and simmering discontent within the party. Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, his series of poll debacles and complete disinterest in the future of the party have come under strong criticism. There are even comments, albeit sarcastically, that he is the best poll campaigner for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The recent missive by Ghulam Nabi Azad, who quit the party, has probably come as the last straw on the camel’s back.
Rahul Gandhi’s yatra has begun from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, a state where Congress has not been in power since 1967. Incidentally, the last Congress chief minister M. Bhaktavatsalam had won the election from the Sriperambudur seat. It would have made sense for Rahul Gandhi to begin his yatra from there. While the Congress’ workforce depleted very fast, the BJP had no state-level leader acceptable as an alternative to the stalwarts of the Dravidian parties. Yet, Kanyakumari was among the few seats that the BJP managed to win. The only reason for Rahul’s yatra from Kanyakumari is the phrase “Kanyakumari to Kashmir”, which resonates with the message of national unity and integrity.
Reinforcing the idea of ‘one united India’ is being touted as the theme of Rahul’s yatra. The 3,570-km-long ‘Bharat Jodo (unite India)’ yatra spanning over 150 days appears to be aimed at keeping the Gandhi scion in news so as to quell criticism that the Congress cannot be run by a person who is perceived as being disinterested in politics but is at its apex only by virtue of entitlement. It will surely be a great feat and a learning experience if the Congress leader is able to successfully complete the yatra.
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Plan the Congress yatra better
How far this yatra will help the Congress in winning a decent number of seats in 2024 is difficult to predict. The yatra will no doubt draw crowds at least in some places, if not at all the stops. But public memory is too short. Besides, the Congress has no leader or cadre that will be able to convert the crowds into votes. The party could have spent a little longer in the election war room and strategised every aspect of the yatra. It clearly didn’t.
What the Congress urgently needs is a non-Gandhi leader at the top who can start with a clean slate and not suffer the ignominy of serial defeat in elections since 2014. Multiple yatras by a few leaders with one common theme would have probably attracted more interest and highlighted the spirit of collective leadership. But the ‘first family’ is clearly not willing to loosen the tight grip over the party and its coffers. As a result, after 150 days, presuming that the yatra continues uninterrupted, the party will be back to where it was, or even be poorer by a few leaders.
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Make India no. 1?
AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal has also embarked on a ‘Make India No. 1’ yatra, starting from his birthplace in Hisar, Haryana. But his yatra seems to be different in the sense that it is expected to be undertaken with short breaks in between. Its final destination is not yet known but, in all likelihood, could be either Himachal Pradesh or Gujarat, or both, where elections are to be held this year. So, the purpose of the yatra is far from what is being announced, “Make India No. 1”.
The consecutive wins in Delhi and a lucky victory in Punjab seem to be the prime reasons for Kejriwal’s yatra. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who ended his association with the BJP recently, was there to flag off Kejriwal’s yatra. It is doubtful if he will let the AAP contest elections in Bihar or even have a tie-up with the Janata Dal (United). The non-BJP, non-Congress parties like the JD(U), TMC, and DMK want to keep all other parties out of reach in their respective states and yet dream of forging a grand alliance of opposition parties. These parties do have pockets of support in some areas that result in their victory and forming governments. But the parties are nowhere close to evolving as alternatives to the BJP.
Ironically, there is still a perception that a new avatar of the Congress under a non-Gandhi leader could probably manage to survive the BJP’s winning streak and put up a semblance of a fight against it in 2024. But the two yatras by two parties that are opposed to each other and are clamouring for the same share of the electoral pie will work at cross purposes. This will not only defeat their objectives but also nip at the bud all attempts at forging a grand alliance of opposition parties, a mirage that unfailingly appears before every election.
Seshadri Chari is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. Views are personal.