By MS Shanker

Former Congress President and the most reluctant politician of the Nehru-Gandhi clan, Rahul Gandhi set out on a marathon walkathon covering around 3570 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir on Wednesday. But, the party’s arch-rival was quick to ridicule it as yet another farce played out by the decaying party to save the family and the outfit. The party’s total ‘wipe out’ from Indian states before the 2024 general elections, is almost becoming a reality unless some miracle happens, which again seems unlikely. 

Such long walkathons by several political leaders in the past helped their respective party’s fortunes at the hustings. They help leaders to get connected directly with the people, understand their hardship, and ground realities of whether the government schemes are reaching the beneficiaries and benefitting them. But, in the case of Congress, these ‘yatra’ critics point out; will isolate them further from the masses at a time when two state elections – Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh – are around the corner.  

Congress spokespersons on television debates struggle to answer a fundamental question. Does their party support abrogation of article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir? Any talk of Bharat Jodo becomes meaningless without an affirmative response to this question, critics say.
There is a spate of other questions. Didn’t the Congress question surgical strikes as well as the famous strike on Balakot deep in Pakistani territory? Did it not ridicule India’s vaccination drive hailed by most nations in the world? Did it not mock our indigenous vaccines which proved to be lifesaving for several Indians as well as citizens of other countries?

Whether in case Dr. Y S Rajasekhar Reddy of the Congress or the TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu or the YSRCP founder YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the walkathons of these leaders gave them tremendous traction in terms of popularity and electoral benefit. Congress could break free from its shackles and bounce back to power in 2004 assembly polls when late YSR took up the marathon walkathon from Chevella in Rangareddy to Srikakulam covering 1500 km. This was followed by his bête noir and TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu just before the 2014 assembly polls after state bifurcation to win the residual state of Andhra Pradesh. He covered around 2,340 km covering 13 districts in 117 days. And, YSRCP founder and Rajasekhar Reddy's son YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who lost the 2014 assembly polls, took the same route of ‘padayatra’ covering over 3,400 kms covering both the Telugu states in 341 days in two phases. However, he claimed that his padayatra was to console those who died by suicide across the undivided state after the tragic death of his father YSR in a plane crash in 2009, soon after helping Congress win its second term.
Such is the impact these padayatras can potentially have. However, the Congress party is on the verge of disintegration, with veterans like Ghulam Nabi Azad opting to quit and forge their own destiny after more than four decades in the grand old party. 

None would have found fault with either the grand-old party or Rahul Gandhi had he managed to keep his party flock together. In recent months many youngsters, who were annoyed with the party leadership, opted to desert the party and join the hitherto most hated party like the BJP. Some of them like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jiten Prasada were also rewarded for their leadership qualities, although they are scions of some dynasts. Why do the youngsters, even the veterans like Kapil Sibal and Ghulam Nabi Azad, seek to desert the party complaining over the Gandhi dynasts entertaining only those few ‘loyalists’ who are willing to lick their boots, ignoring the real issues either the party or nation is being faced with? 

Amidst such confusion, the decision to hold the ‘Bharat Jodo” yatra came under sharp criticism from its traditional opponent the BJP, but that is only to be expected. Many leaders wonder how Rahul who cannot hold his own party together is talking about Bharat Jodo! 
More vocal was the BJP’s Assam Chief Minister Hemantha Biswa Sarma, who said he should conduct such a walkathon in Pakistan as his party is responsible for partition. The former Union Minister for Law and now party spokesperson, Ravishankar Prasad, dubbed Rahul’s walkathon nothing short of ‘re-launching himself as the party chief.  He said the party is also known for appeasement politics.  Prasad perhaps hit the nail on its head. This walkathon is a relaunch of Rahul but unfortunately, the packaging remains the same and he stands exposed and vulnerable in the public domain. 

Some Congress critics even describe the ‘yatra’ as ‘parivaar jodo’ as the tainted brother-in-law Vadra’s picture also comes up in some of the banners that were come up as promote. How far the ‘yatra’ is going to help the party is a foregone conclusion as many a critic of Congress and Rahul feel that he is neither a good communicator nor does he understand people’s woes.  They say, he may prove himself to be a fool as he did on many occasions in the past – whether interacting with the young and bright college students or in many emotive public meetings (especially, the recent ‘ata’ in litres comment).