Big ideas, call for action missing from Bharat Jodo Yatra
The Congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is successful in optics and mobilisation. Dramatic drone shots of milling crowds chopped into easily uploadable clips, with adrenaline-pumping background scores, are being widely shared. The yatra, for once, brought the Congress back to newspapers and television screens in a positive light. Even opponents find it difficult to dismiss the fact that Rahul Gandhi drew unexpectedly huge crowds in the initial days of his 3,750 km-long walkathon, spanning 150 days. The yatra, however, did not throw up any big ideas so far. Neither did a call for action emerge from it.
In his speeches, Rahul Gandhi attacked the Union and state governments for their failures. But he did not present a well-crafted alternative vision or programmes that could fire people’s imagination. It may be argued that the name of the yatra defines its purpose, and it is a march to unite the people in the face of attempts to divide them. That is a good reason to undertake the yatra. But will it be good enough for people to see the Congress as an alternative to the ruling BJP? Probably not. When Jayaprakash Narayan launched his movement against Indira Gandhi’s regime and called for ‘Sampoorna Kranti’ or total revolution, it aimed at achieving Gandhi’s ‘Sarvodaya’ or universal uplift through direct action.
The issues that triggered the JP movement were the same faced by people today—joblessness, price rise, and failing institutions, besides the curbs on personal liberties. Rahul’s yatra lacks a JP-type clarion call. The call for Bharat Jodo is a noble one. But what is the glue that will unite the people? It remains to be seen if the Congress and Rahul Gandhi can provide that glue by way of some big ideas with universal
appeal. There is a good chance of the yatra ending by gaining only some good press for Rahul Gandhi and no electoral dividends for his party. The route of the yatra is so planned that the party’s campaign in Karnataka is peaking at the wrong time. Elections in Karnataka are due in March next year. The Congress padayatris will be out of the state by the end of this month, five months before the elections. The yatra is high on optics and mobilisation, but it needs more thought in it to achieve its real objectives.