Can the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ heal a divided and polarised India?

The fate of not just the Indian National Congress but the social fabric of India rests on the efforts to rescue the country from divisive politics. Will the Bharat Jodo Yatra be the game changer ?

At a time when some of the most ‘well meaning’ political parties in India are competing with Narendra Modi’s BJP for the Hindutva vote, trying to prove their Hindu credentials to the voter, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra may seem a noble attempt. As Professor Kaushik Basu, fomer Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India remarked “I don’t know enough to comment on Rahul Gandhi’s political skills, but in terms of honesty, basic decency, trustworthiness and inclusive values he is a rare politician.” The question to ask, therefore, is basic decency and inclusiveness still an idea that the new India appreciates and will endorse ? When those who are supposed to be some of the most ‘liberal’ politicians of India have chosen to overlook anti-Muslim politics in an effort to appease the ‘Hindutva votebank’, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will not just be a test for the Congress but also the mood of the nation in the run-up to the 2024 General Elections. Independent journalist, Tarushi Aswani has this ground report.

Rana Ayyub

“I’m waiting for him to come to Madhya Pradesh, the government’s bulldozers flattened my house” says Mohd. Asif, a Muslim man who seeks Rahul Gandhi’s attention towards his loss. A sentiment echoed by many Muslims, Dalits and the marginalised in India who have been the worst affected by the increasingly aggressive and alarmingly acceptable religious and caste politics in India.

On the seventh of September, Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi set out on a journey that will cover a distance of 3500 kms across twelve states and likely to conclude in 150 days from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. As he embarked on this journey, he invoked the assassination of his late father and the ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was killed in a terror attack by the Tamil Tigers, “I lost my father to the politics of hate and division. I will not lose my beloved country to it too. Love will conquer hate. Hope will defeat fear. Together, we will overcome” he posted.

Gandhi and scores of Congress members walk seven to eight hours everyday where they meet and interact with citizens from all walks of life and sleep in containers as opposed to the confines of luxury of the hotel rooms. While Gandhi himself and his party have maintained that this Yatra is an exercise to communicate with the masses and heal the country from the damage unleashed by the Modi led government and the RSS, the electoral significance of this yatra in the run up to the 2024 elections cannot be dismissed.

Rahul Gandhi interacting with people on the ground during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Image : Indian National Congress

Before beginning the Yatra, at a crowded Delhi rally, on the fourth of September, Gandhi said that while the national flag represented the religion and language of every single person living in the country, the BJP and the RSS saw the tricolour as their personal property and used it to further its skewed idea of nationalism.

Flagging the Yatra, he called out the BJP-RSS for dividing the country on religious lines, adding that every single institution of the country was under attack – and this march – was his way of seeking support of people to keep the country united as envisaged by the founding fathers. The Modi led Bharatiya Janta Party known for its own yatras including the Rath Yatra of 1992 that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Gaurav Yatra in 2002 by then Chief Minister Narendra Modi months after the anti-Muslim carnage, has mocked the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ for being a political gimmick.

Congress national convenor Saral Patel describes this Yatra as an attempt to instil compassion amongst people in an environment of hostility and hate cultivated and festered by the BJP and the RSS. “There is growing hatred for minorities, and it is an agenda of these parties to divide people for their political gains. Our effort is aimed at uniting the population of our country”

Sukhwinder Bhati, a former factory worker who is a Congress supporter, is awaiting the Yatra to arrive in Delhi. Bhati says, “Every day, we just read about Hindu-Muslim issues. I have always seen Congress as a space where development is a priority. We don’t need to hate Muslims; BJP should know that we need jobs” lamented Bhati.

Unemployment, which surged to a one-year high of 8.3% in August, is one of the issues that Gandhi’s Yatra promises to highlight, apart from inflation and the need for an inclusive society. Rather than being inclusive, the idea of India as imagined by the ruling BJP reeks of Hindutva. BJP’s India wakes up to news of Muslims facing hate, harassment and dog-whistle, every single day. In this atmosphere of animosity, Gandhi said that the Prime Minister was enabling fear and hate.

Yatris accompanying Gandhi in Tamil Nadu see the journey as a revival of the Indian National Congress that has been deserted by some of its senior leadership and is parched of electoral victory. In Uttar Pradesh, Alim Jafri, a journalist who has been covering politics and hate- crimes in the state for a decade now, is appreciative of the Congress’ effort. Jafri narrates the grim reality of how the common man is seen accepting and endorsing Modi’s brand of hate. “Being a journalist, I have faced threats while reporting difficult truths. One can only imagine the kind of hate ordinary Muslims without a voice or privilege face daily”, said Jafri.

Jafri sees the Yatra as an effort to begin a conversation that could amplify the message of uniting Indians against hate. “If it is actually about Muslims, and other marginalised, the Congress needs Muslim and Dalit leaders to establish their connect with the ground” Jafri explained.

Mohd. Shadab, 32, a native of Delhi’s Okhla, is hopeful towards the Yatra. He feels that since the CAA protests Muslims have been targeted for their religious identity. “If the Congress is calling upon minorities to join them, they should know our issues well. The Yatra should also remember our daughters struggling to hold on to their hijab and our sister Bilkis being made to fight her rapists again” argued Shadab.

Currently in Kerala, the Yatra and its leaders are visibly engaging with voters that may or may not be party loyalists. Communicating with such a diverse set of voters during a Yatra and discussing polarization, unemployment and equal opportunities for the differently abled may click for a constituency. But is this the best way to alleviate hate? - Author and Political commentator, Aakar Patel weighs in, “Any element of being on the ground is important, and what Congress is doing now will make a difference”. Patel feels that while it is currently difficult to determine what kind of response the Yatra will attract, he says, “such mass movements are important where people are publicly told that India is a nation of many faiths and not how the ruling government is peddling it, that there is only one faith”.

While many view the Yatra as an initiative to take on the agendas that the BJP is failing on, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla sees this effort as a strategy to relaunch Rahul Gandhi. He says, “Such strategies won’t work since the Gandhi’s are just stuck in the family realm, their party is just about two- three people. They must quit on this family-run politics, appeasement and corruption if they really want to work”. Poonawalla also said that the Yatra made George Ponnaiah its poster boy, who he accused of threatening Hindus and saying inappropriate things about Bharat Mata.

Other BJP leaders, from Smriti Irani to JP Nadda, have also been slamming Gandhi and the Congress for undertaking the Yatra in the company of people who allegedly chanted and quoted anti-India slogans. Mainstream media in India, especially news channels that stoke communal hatred on prime time news each night are unable to reconcile to the idea of covering a political rally that wants to spread inclusiveness. At least three Indian news channels were seen outraging about a Burberry T-Shirt worn by Rahul Gandhi during the rally.

Looking at the expanse of the Yatra, professor and political analyst, Apoorvanand feels that one needs to go back to the masses to break the political impasse. “In India, yatras have been taken out for ulterior motives, such as LK Advani’s yatra, Sushma Swaraj’s yatra, Uma Bharti’s yatra, which were divisive in nature. But this yatra takes into account the situation in the country and has harmony and unity as it’s objective” says Apoorvanand. Commenting on the Yatra, he is optimistic that it will be able to spread the message it has taken upon itself, if conducted with sincerity. “Those associated with the Yatra should remain focused on their aim and not get affected by attacks being made on their efforts”.

The fate of not just the Indian National Congress and Rahul Gandhi but the social fabric of the country rests on the efforts to rescue the country from divisive politics. Will the Bharat Jodo Yatra be a game changer ? The support the Yatra receives from the people on the ground will be an indication of which direction the wind is blowing.

Tarushi Aswani is an independent journalist based in New Delhi, India. She reports on human rights, governance, religion and politics. She tweets at @tarushi_aswani