New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi’s nationwide foot march changed the political discourse in the country, brought the people together, attracted like-minded parties and led to the formation of the INDIA alliance which will defeat the BJP in 2024, Congress Lok Sabha MP Jothimani said on Sunday, days ahead of Bharat Jodo Yatra’s first anniversary on Sep 7.
The 4000 km yatra had started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on Sep 7, 2022 and ended in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir on Jan 30, 2023. Jothimani was among the 200-odd permanent travellers who walked the entire stretch along with Rahul Gandhi.
“The yatra was an important political milestone in the history of the country as well as that of the Congress party. No other party leaders had walked across the length of the country for a purpose like this before. The yatra had a huge impact on the people. It had started off as a party yatra but gradually turned into a national yatra as people joined it voluntarily. The foot march changed the political discourse of the country as people realized the importance of social harmony and the need to fight BJP’s hate politics,” Congress Lok Sabha MP from Karur in Tamil Nadu, Jothimani told this channel.
“The yatra also attracted several like-minded parties and eventually led to the formation of the opposition alliance INDIA which will defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The opposition alliance will also have an impact on the coming five assembly polls this year,” she said.
According to the Lok Sabha MP, the BJP has seen the writing on the wall and is therefore trying to target the opposition alliance and deflect public attention by bringing up controversial issues like ‘one nation, one poll.’
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“The INDIA alliance is inclusive and represents 60 per cent of the country. The BJP has realized its impending defeat in the coming assembly polls as well as the 2024 national elections. They have nothing to show to the voters as their achievement. Therefore, they are bringing up issues like ‘one nation, one poll’ and a special Parliament session to deflect public attention from pressing people’s issues like lack of jobs, education and high prices of essential things which are being flagged by the opposition,” said Jothimani.
The Congress leader said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra established Rahul Gandhi as a national leader and shattered the negative image that had been projected by the BJP.
“The yatra has established Rahul Gandhi as a national leader. He does not hanker for power. He is genuinely interested in people’s welfare and wants to unite them. The other opposition leaders now understand his political viewpoint,” said Jothimani.
“Rahul Gandhi has continued his Bharat Jodo yatra since January. He has met with various sections of society like students, farmers, motorcycle mechanics, truckers, chocolate makers and vegetable traders. He went to Manipur to assure the people in the strife-torn state and travelled to Ladakh to understand the problems of the locals. Last year, he continued walking despite knee pain to keep his commitment. I too suffered from blisters on my feet soles initially as I had never walked 20-25 km per day but got used to the tough routine gradually. The yatra was a great learning experience. As far as the Yatra 2.0 is concerned, it may take place but in a different format,” she said.
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