New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi will effectively lead the Congress’ 2024 Lok Sabha campaign when he will crisscross through 90 parliamentary constituencies across the country as part of his nationwide yatra part 2 from January 14 to March 20 next year.
If Bharat Jodo Yatra part 1 was against economic inequalities, political centralization and social polarization in the country, the yatra part 2, dubbed as Bharat Nyay Yatra, will focus on delivering political, economic and social justice by the Congress. The 14 states to be covered in the yatra include Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
“Yes, Rahul Gandhi will be leading the Lok Sabha campaign of sorts as the yatra comes so close to the parliamentary elections next year. The yatra part 1 had created a buzz around the party and the second leg is expected to do the same. It is going to be a massive public contact program,” AICC in charge of Assam and Madhya Pradesh, Jitendra Singh told this channel.
According to party insiders, initially the plan was to culminate the yatra part 2 in Porbandar, Gujarat, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi but it was later decided to shift the venue to Mumbai, where a big opposition rally can be organized on March 20.
“The yatra part 1 played a key role in bringing the like-minded parties around the Congress’ plan of a larger opposition alliance which is now known as INDIA. The allies had joined the yatra part 1 at different places and it would be safe to assume that they will be willing to do the same now,” AICC functionary BM Sandeep Kumar told ETV Bharat. According to party insiders, the route of the yatra part 2 around 6,200 km was increased significantly over the 4000 km route of yatra part 1 as most of the distance will be covered through buses.
“We already have the modified containers of yatra part 1 which can be deployed as resting rooms for the travelers. We just need to arrange some more buses to seat the group. There would also be several car cades. In between there would be short stretches of foot march led by Rahul Gandhi and there will be several big and small public interactions to connect with the voters. The yatra part 2 will be launched by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge from Imphal in Manipur on Jan 14. The strife torn state in the northeastern state has become a symbol of the social harmony and justice that Rahul is talking about. We wanted to begin the process of healing the wounds of people of Manipur,” said a senior AICC functionary involved in the yatra planning.
“The three Hindi speaking states MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where the party lost the polls recently have been kept on the yatra part 2 route as it will help charge up the workers there and generate hope about getting a good number of Lok Sabha seats. The Congress needs to project its strength in these three states. The same purpose would be achieved in Gujarat where we lost in 2022 and in West Bengal where we lost in 2021,” he said.
The Congress strategists hope to gain from the yatra impact in Uttar Pradesh which the yatra part 1 just touched upon for two days before moving to neighbouring Haryana. “The yatra part 1 just passed through a few districts of western UP and Rahul could spend just two days due to the route issue. This time the yatra part 2 will spend around two weeks in UP and will help create a buzz in the state. Already our UP Joso Yatra in the western areas is being received well by the people,” senior UP Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh told ETV Bharat.
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