Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra ends today in Srinagar after the party president along with various senior congress leaders hoisted Tiranga at the party headquarters in Srinagar.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra which was going on for 4 months has impacted a lot of people in India and it was also an attempt to change Rahul Gandhi’s image as ‘pappu’.
Rahul Gandhi and other congress leaders cited many threats by the BJP that the ruling party tried to halt the Yatra at various points.
Bharat Jodo Yatra started from Kanyakumari on 7th September 2022 and it ends today in Srinagar on 30th January 2023. The Bharat Jodo Yatra is said to be a dream walk of senior congress leader from the Gandhi family Shri Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi led the Yatra single handedly and was accompanied by his fellow party leaders and workers.
Rahul Gandhi was also accompanied by various prominent people from different fields like former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, farmer leader Naresh Tiket, environmentalist Medha Patkar and many more.
Many leaders from various opposition parties also joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra and they also committed their support to Rahul Gandhi in the fight against the BJP.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra covered 12 states and two Union territories.
The 14 states are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra is more in news because it was an attempt by the congress party and Rahul Gandhi to change the party’s image of anti- nationalist. BJP and other political parties alleged that the congress party is not more an option for the voters in India and its leaders are incompetent and are anti- nationalist.
Bharat Jodo Yatra boosted up the morale and confidence of the party workers and party leaders who thought that the party was not going to win any election.
Though the party saw a massive defeat in Gujarat assembly elections in 2022 but it also gained a full fleshed majority in Himachal Pradesh.
Rahul Gandhi, looking more confident from the past was also seen behaving maturely on the allegations of opposition parties and he also handled his parties internal matters with ease. Rahul Gandhi has changed his image of being a non- Hindu by adopting the way of soft- Hindutva. He was seen praying in Ujjain Mahakal temple and also citing vedas and puranas in his speeches during the Yatra.
The congress party also dealt with many allegations and difficulties during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Nepal’s national anthem was played during the Maharashtra phase of Bharat Jodo Yatra in presence of Rahul Gandhi on stage.
Activist Medha Patkar when joined the yatra in Gujarat, BJP leaders said that Rahul Gandhi is inviting people with him who were behind the stagnation of Gujarat’s process programmes.
Use of luxury trucks for Bharat Jodo Yatra was said by the BJP in response to which the congress party had to release the photos of the interior of the trucks.
Rahul Gandhi’s expensive T- Shirt was also a talking point after which Rahul Gandhi completed the Yatra in that cloth only.
Senior congress leader Digvijay Singh asked about proof of surgical strike and air strike after which Rahul Gandhi himself had to clarify that these comments were not supported by the party.
A large cut out of Rahul Gandhi was seen at Lal Chowk in Srinagar where Rahul Gandhi hoisted the national flag. The cut-Out of Rahul Gandhi was higher than the Tricolour hoisted for which BJP leaders alleged that this was dishonor of the national flag and violation of flag’s code of conduct.
Bharat Jodo Yatra saw massive support from all over the country and now the congress party is also planning to carry out the same type of Yatra from west to east.
Public support to the Bharat Jodo Yatra was great but it seems a bit difficult to change that wave of supporters of Bharat Jodo Yatra into votes for congress. Now that the Yatra has ended, what awaits the party is assembly elections in 10 states and it would be interesting to see congress’s impact on voters.
Bharat Jodo Yatra : Key points
STARTED ON– 7th September 2022- Kanyakumari Tamil Nadu
STATES COVERED– (14) Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
TOTAL KILOMETERS COVERED – 3900 km (estimated)
TOTAL DISTRICTS COVERED – 75 DISTRICTS
PUBLIC MEETINGS – 14
PRESS CONFERENCES – 13
