New Delhi: The Congress hopes that Rahul Gandhi’s nationwide East-to-West Yatra, which will pass through 14 states and 85 districts, will help the grand old party win at least 150 Lok Sabha seats. The yatra, dubbed as Bharat Nyay Yatra, will be launched from Imphal in Manipur on January 14 and will culminate in Mumbai on March 20 covering around 6,200 km.
“The Yatra Part 2 from Manipur to Mumbai is going to be a turning point in Indian politics just as the Yatra Part 1 was. There were several benefits from the south to north yatra last year in terms of creating a buzz around the Congress, winning state elections and forging opposition unity. We hope the yatra part 2 would have a direct impact on the parliamentary elections and help us win at least 150 Lok Sabha seats,” AICC functionary Saptagiri Ulaka told ETV Bharat.
“We hope to contest around 300 seats on our own and can win as many seats, but the number should be 150 at least,” he said. According to Ulaka, who represents the Koraput seat in the Lok Sabha, the Yatra Part 2 will crisscross through big states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal where the INDIA alliance would operate and push the opposition grouping’s electoral prospects.
“The yatra would help us create a narrative against the BJP. They want the 2024 contest to become a Modi vs Who kind of political fight. But, we want to remain focused on the issues affecting the public. The yatra would raise both national as well as local issues as it will pass through around 100 parliamentary constituencies,” said Ulaka.
According to Congress insiders, the 300 seats to be contested have been suggested by the five-member alliance panel, which has met the leaders of the states where seat-sharing, would have to be worked out with the INDIA partners. Ulaka, who is AICC secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh, played down the recent provocative statements made by allies like TMC and AAP.
On Tuesday, a war of words broke out between the Congress and the AAP after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ridiculed the grand old party saying it would become a spent force. This provoked the Congress leaders to allege that the AAP would soon be remembered as a party whose leaders were all found in jail over corruption.
“These are political rhetoric before the INDIA seat-sharing has been concluded. Once it is done, all focus would be on winning the seats in a state. As the yatra would pass through big states, it would help the electoral prospects of the allies also,” said Ulaka. “Rahul Gandhi would walk some parts of the route and most of it would be on a bus, but there would be brief stopovers for public interactions and rallies where the focus would be on national issues. At the same time, the brief stopovers would be used to talk about the local issues of a particular parliamentary constituency to connect with the voters,” he said.
Read more: Explained: What Congress aims to achieve through Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Nyay Yatra
