BENGALURU: The impact of the ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra, launched by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, is expected to be realised during next year’s Assembly elections. The results in the Assembly segments that Sonia Gandhi, and her son Rahul, have been covering during the yatra may be a reflection of their popularity.
Sonia will join the yatra on Thursday at Pandavapura, while her daughter and senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vandra is likely to join them on October 9 and 10.
Interestingly, the yatra is traversing across as many as seven Lok Sabha constituencies that do not have a representative from the Congress, while there are only six MLAs out of 21 Assembly seats on the route. Of the 21 Assembly segments, the yatra has been passing through 15 represented either by the BJP or the JDS -- from the Old Mysuru region up to Raichur.
The Lok Sabha seats, including Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Ballari, and Raichur, are represented by the BJP, except for Mandya, which is represented by independent MP Sumalatha Amabreesh.
The Assembly constituencies of Gundlupet, 224th Assembly seat in the order, where the yatra kicked off; Nanjanagud, Chamundeshwari, Srirangapatna, Melukote, Nagamangala, Turuvekere, Tiptur, and Chikkanayakanahalli -- all have been represented by non-Congress MLAs. Only three seats are under Congress control, including Varuna, represented by CLP leader Siddaramaiah’s son Dr Yathindra; Narasimharaja represented by former minister Tanveer Sait; and HD Kote, represented by Anil Kumar C fall under the route map.
Similarly, in the Chitradurga district, the Hosadurga, Hiriyuru and Molakalumuru have BJP MLAs, and Rahul’s yatra will be extensive across this stretch, as he is also staying overnight at Harthikote, Siddapura, and Hirehalli villages. Challakere also has a Congress MLA, T Raghumurthy, whereas in Raichur Rural and Ballari Rural, the party has Basanagouda Daddal and B Nagendra as its MLAs, respectively.