1

2
 To India, that is Bharat
and all those who toil for her

3
 Contents

Bharat Mata: The Voice of Every Indian

Rahul Gandhi

Foreword: A People’s Revolution to Reunite India

Mallikarjun Kharge

Karma Yoga: Towards Reclaiming India’s Soul

Pushparaj Deshpande

SECTION I

Yatra Diaries: The Way It Was

Manish Khanduri

A ‘Den Mother’ Recollects Bharat Jodo

Utkarsha Rupwate

A Twist in India’s Tryst

Mahima Singh

Bharat Jodo and Civil Society

Hrishikesh Singh

Reconnecting the Congress: A Transformative Journey beyond Politics

Sasikanth Senthil

A Yatra in India’s Eternal Yatra

4
 Meenakshi Natarajan

SECTION II

Meditations on Gandhi, Indianness and Politics

Dr Anshul Trivedi

Tapasya
Chandy Oommen

The Yatra, by a Yatri: Realizations and Reflections

Dr Kanhaiya Kumar

India’s Tiruvila
R. Sudha

My Bharat Jodo Yatra Story

Lhingkim Haokip Shingnaisui

The Journey of Love

Jothimani Sennimalai

SECTION III

Bharat Jodo Yatra and Organizational Ethics

Prof. Ajay Gudavarthy

A Gangotri of New India

Salman Khurshid

Myth versus Reality

Sandesh Bhandare

Bharat Jodo Yatra: An Expression and a Game Changer

Darshan Mondkar

5
Three Reflections on the Bharat Jodo Yatra
Dr G.N. Devy

Hum Nafrat Ke Bazaar Mein Mohabbat Ki Dukan

Prof. Mridula Mukherjee and Prof. Aditya Mukherjee

When the Journey Is the Destination

Prof. Mukulika Banerjee

A Padyatra to Reclaim Hope

Sridhar Radhakrishnan

A Journey in Political Thought and Action

Nikhil Dey

Will Yatras Be Charting a New Path? Why Not?

Medha Patkar and Guddi S.L.

Walking with Rahul Gandhi: Bridging Hearts and the Nation

Bhanwar Meghwanshi

Reuniting and Rediscovering India

A.S. Dulat

Bharat Jodo: The Power of Love

Supriya Shrinate

Bharat Jodo Yatra: An Attempt at Harmonizing the Country

D. Raja

Hope-Filled Yatra
Supriya Sule

Bharat Jodo: Restoring Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat and Insaniyat

Mehbooba Mufti and Iltija Mufti

Marching in the National Interest

6
 Sanjay Raut

Notes on the Contributors

About the Book
About the Editors
Copyright

7
 Bharat Mata: The Voice of Every
Indian1
Rahul Gandhi

‘If words come from the heart, they will enter the heart.’
—Rumi

L
ast year, I spent 145 days walking across the land I call home. I started at
the edge of the sea and walked through heat, dust and rain, through
forests, towns and hills, until I reached the soft snow of my beloved Kashmir.
Many people along the way asked me: Why are you doing this? Even today
they ask: Why? What were you looking for? What did you find?
I wanted to understand the thing I loved. The thing for which I was ready
to give up everything, including my life. The thing that could make me take so
much pain and abuse for so many years.
I wanted to know precisely what it was that I loved. Was it this land? The
mountains? The sea? Was it a person? Was it a people, or a set of ideas? But
there was something else. I also wanted to understand what sort of heart was
mine that had allowed itself to be captured in this way.
For years I used to run 8 to 10 kilometres every evening. So I thought,
‘Twenty-five? I can easily walk 25 kilometres.’ I was certain the walk was
going to be easy.
Within a few days, the pain arrived. My old knee injury, one that hours of
physiotherapy had banished, was back. The next morning I found myself in
tears, sitting alone in a metal container. How was I ever going to walk the
3,800 kilometres that lay ahead? The crutch of arrogance was gone.
We would start walking in the darkness before dawn. Almost immediately,
the pain would begin. Like a hungry wolf, it would follow me everywhere I

8
went, waiting for me to stop. A few days into the walk, my physiotherapist
joined us. He came and gave me sage advice. The pain remained.
And then I started to notice something. Every time I would think about
stopping, every time I considered giving up, someone would come and gift me
the energy to continue. Once it was a lovely little girl with a beautiful letter,
another time an old lady with some banana chips, then a man who suddenly
ran up and hugged me. It was as if a silent energy kept helping me, and like
fireflies in a dark forest, it was everywhere. When I really needed it, it was
there to help and guide me. The Yatra progressed. At first, I wanted to tell
everyone what I thought. I wanted to show them what I understood. I spoke
about solutions to their problems. But soon the number of people became so
large and the pain so persistent that I started to observe and listen.
There was always a din in the space where we walked, with loud slogans,
clicking cameras, and people pushing and shoving. Again and again and
again. Every day, for eight to ten hours, I would just listen, and try and ignore
my knee.
Then one day, I felt a silence I had never felt before. I could hear nothing
but the voice of the person holding my hand and talking to me. The inner
voice that had spoken to me ever since I was a little child was gone. It felt as
if something had died. He was a farmer, and he spoke about his crop. He was
crying as he showed me the strands of rotten cotton. I saw the years of
suffering in his hands. In those puffs of cotton, I could see the fear he felt for
his children. On his sunken face, I could see the nights he had spent hungry.
He spoke about how he had helplessly watched his father die. He told me
about the humiliation he felt when he had no money left to give his wife.
There was nothing I could say, so I stopped walking and hugged him.
This happened again and again. It happened with children, with mothers
and with students. It happened with shopkeepers, carpenters and labourers. It
happened with soldiers. Now I would almost never hear myself or the crowd.
My attention would not move from the person who spoke in my ear. The
constant chatter and judgement inside me were gone. When a student would
say they were scared of failing, I would listen. When a group of little children
who were forced on to the streets to beg for a living shivered in front of me
one morning, I decided I would walk in my T-shirt until I no longer could. The
object of my love had suddenly revealed herself. My beloved Bharat Mata
was not a land. It wasn’t a set of ideas. It wasn’t a particular culture, history or
religion. Neither was it the caste that people had been assigned. India was the

9
voice of every single Indian, no matter how weak or strong. India was the
happiness, the fear and the pain hidden deep inside all the voices.
To hear India, my own voice, my desires and my ambitions had to fall
silent. India would speak to one of her own, but only if one was humble and
completely silent.
How simple it had turned out to be. I had been looking in the river for that
which could only be found in the sea.

1 Rahul Gandhi, ‘Bharat Mata: The Voice of Every Indian’, Indian

National Congress, 15 October 2023, https://inc.in/in-focus/bharat-
mata-the-voice-of-every-indian (last accessed on 20 February 2024).

10
 Foreword
A People’s Revolution to Reunite India
Mallikarjun Kharge

P
adyatras and satyagrahas have held a special significance in India. A
padyatra (march) has always served as a means of connecting with the
people, understanding their grievances and mobilizing them for a larger cause.
Satyagrahas (non-violent resistance), on the other hand, have successfully
brought in meaningful sociopolitical change. Both were leveraged to great
effect during India’s freedom struggle. Both of these powerful instruments
converged in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (the Yatra), which
successfully united the nation to further the constitutional idea of India.
People need to be heard. They need to feel included. And they need to
know that something is being done about what they have expressed about
their needs and aspirations. But unfortunately, the government has not
delivered on any of these three in the past decade. And so the common man
genuinely feels left out. The common people have been desperate for someone
to pay heed to them with respect and compassion. And Rahul Gandhi stepped
up. He did not just walk the 4,000+ kilometres across twelve states—he
walked straight into people’s hearts.
Millions of Indians spoke to him, talking about untold tales of suffering
because of unemployment, stagnant wages, a stagnant economy that no longer
works for all, a pervasive atmosphere of fear and hate, and overall anarchy.
People don’t feel secure, because everything that has made India great has
either been or is being destroyed. The fear is real, because when Rahul Gandhi
spoke about the injustices that women have particularly faced, an FIR was
lodged against him soon after (suggesting a correlation). People feel like they
do not matter, with the government conducting the nation’s affairs as if it’s a
ceaseless, mind-numbing reality TV show. It is no coincidence that tens of
millions of Indians, including Dalits, the Adivasi, Other Backward Classes,

11
women, minorities, farmers, labourers, small traders, professionals and the
youth, joined the Yatra. They came not just to protect India’s Constitution, but
to protect that inalienable value that confers each of them with civic freedoms
and rights—that of one person, one value. They were thus joining to safeguard
their own agency and individuality.
Like Mahatma Gandhi once did with the Dandi Yatra, Bharat Jodo
traversed through villages and towns, interacting with people from all walks
of life, listening to their concerns and conjoining them for a larger struggle.
Like Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Mahad Satyagraha, Bharat Jodo fought for the
most voiceless despite overwhelming odds. This was not easy because of the
constant security threat (which is not a small matter, given that two
generations of the Gandhi family have paid the ultimate price while serving
the nation). But Rahul Gandhi kept walking. In the countless public rallies,
interactions with communities and dialogues with diverse groups, he bound
India together by sheer force of will.
In the past decade, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has undemocratically
tried to mould mass consciousness through its propaganda machinery. It has
done so by deviously misusing the media, social media, popular culture and
public institutions. The BJP government has used these to impose its
longstanding agenda of one leader, one ideology and one party. It can claim
(as it has) that it is its political prerogative to disseminate its own propaganda.
But in doing so, it has methodically suppressed the legitimate concerns of
millions of Indians—whether it is students, farmers, Dalits, the Adivasi,
minorities, state governments or any person holding a different view than that
of the BJP. This is why India has erupted with small and big protests across
the nation.
This is the foundational difference between the Congress party and the
BJP. To the Congress, every Indian is an integral part of the nation,
irrespective of where they come from and who they are. Thus, in furthering an
individual’s needs and aspirations, the Congress feels it furthers national
interest. That’s why the Congress spends so much time listening to the people,
in parliamentary processes, in inclusive governance and in republicanism
(wherein we are obligated to listen to even the last person in the line). In
contrast, the BJP has always held that it knows best—for the citizenry and the
nation at large. That is why, rather than listening to India’s constituent
stakeholders and weaving their needs into a national plan, it has consistently
tried to mould everything in its image—the people, ideas, states, public
institutions, etc. Consequently, the Prime Minister has only imposed his and

12
the Sangh Parivar’s mann ki baat (personal reflections), ignoring jann ki baat
(the people’s voice). To ignore the people’s voice is fundamentally contrary to
the civilizational and constitutional idea of India. And it foretells a grave
threat to India’s social contract.
This has not been examined enough, but Bharat Jodo was also the ultimate
confidence-building measure for political parties. The BJP has insidiously
tried to undermine and circumscribe every other political party, partly because
it is easier to gain and retain power by destroying the Opposition rather than
on its own strength. This is when over 60 per cent of the population has voted
for other parties. The BJP has broken parties—even its own allies—
circumscribed legislators and suppressed the Opposition. This democratic
regression is not just unconstitutional, but makes it even more difficult for the
people of India to air their voices. But Rahul Gandhi took every party along in
the Yatra, making it clear that it was their Yatra as much as his own. He gave
them space, respected their agency and showed the people of India that each
party was united in working for the common good. This was in stark contrast
to the BJP’s predatorial politics, and I believe that this bonhomie played a
significant role in stitching together the Indian National Developmental
Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Thus, in a very real sense, Bharat Jodo served as an instrument of national
integration. But to the Congress party, the Yatra also has a more foundational
significance. For many years, the Congress has suffered many electoral losses
and been ideologically adrift. But Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra served as a catalyst
for organizational revitalization. The Congress regained the strength and the
vibrancy that the nation had been yearning to see in the party. It also gave a
platform to dynamic youngsters within the party to showcase their hard work.
We found many entrepreneurial youngsters who energetically and efficiently
organized events, reached out to local communities and sensitively addressed
their concerns. Additionally, Rahul Gandhi took great personal efforts to
ensure these youngsters also experienced India’s rich cultural heritage and the
different challenges faced by our fellow Indians. Without a doubt, the Yatra
inspired crores of Congresspersons to become proactive agents of change,
fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility towards the party’s mission.
This has greatly enhanced the Congress party’s bench strength, which now
boasts hundreds of bright, conscientious and competent political stakeholders.
I participated in the Yatra and multiple public meetings across every state it
traversed. I could see its ever-increasing impact and the ripples it was causing
in the political landscape. The essence of this Yatra is best encapsulated in the

13
poetic words of Moinuddin Sahab: ‘Hayaat leke chalo, kaayanaat le ke chalo;
chalo to saare jamaane ko saath le ke chalo (Let’s take the life, let’s take the
universe; come, let’s take the whole world with us).’ As the Yatra moved on, it
kept attracting an ever-widening caravan of political workers, social workers,
writers, actors, professionals and individuals from all sections of society. Even
though the media tried hard to whitewash it, the Yatra became the subject of
extensive coverage on social media and societal discussions. The Yatra’s
message reverberated through every village, creating a bridge of
communication with the public and rekindling hope among those who had
been apathetic to politics. In the aftermath of the Bharat Jodo, the Indian
National Congress finds itself not only rejuvenated, but also deeply
reconnected to the pulse of the nation. Moreover, the Yatra has now
transformed Rahul Gandhi into India’s foremost symbol of resistance,
embodying a conscientious Opposition against the regressive ideology of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)–BJP.
Rahul Gandhi and his two maha-yatras are a clarion call to every patriot to
join in a historic struggle to reunite India and restore the path our founders
started us on. Stirring the nation’s conscience, they can be aptly described as
the first steps to a common man’s fightback against the BJP government to
reclaim their rights and dignity. In that spirit, I can only say to my fellow
countrymen: ‘Ek tera kadam, ek mera kadam … jud jaaye saara watan (One
step of yours, one step of mine … the whole country will unite).’

14
 Karma Yoga: Towards Reclaiming
India’s Soul
Pushparaj Deshpande

T
he Bhagavad Gita suggests that there are many ways of attaining nirvana
(the ultimate Truth or realizing God)—through Jñāna yoga (knowledge),
Bhakti yoga (devotion) and Karma yoga (disinterested action). The Bharat
Jodo Yatra (BJY or the Yatra) was an instantiation of the age-old method of
Karma yoga to seek the truth—both personal and public. It is in that search
that we also find Bharat—the amalgamation of ‘Bha’ (light) and ‘Rati’
(revelling in). This has become especially pertinent because, for the past few
years, India has been suffering from a manufactured epidemic of moral
compromises, falsehoods and regressions (ideological, political, social and
cultural). Every day we stray further from satya (truth), tap (austerity), daya
(compassion) and daan (generosity)—the four components of Dharma (the
divine law). To borrow from the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci, ‘The
old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of
monsters … in this interregnum, a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.’
Today there is a pervasive belief that the State, which was carefully
designed to be a neutral and honest adjudicator between India’s constituent
groups, has no longer been listening to India’s constituent groups. Instead, in
its lust to impose one party, one leader and one ideology on India’s continental
diversities, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government ‘has been partisan in
the application of the rule of law,1 which increasingly seems to be contingent
on conformity to the ruling party’s ideology. Citizens and state governments
are faced with the bitter reality that their constitutionally guaranteed political,
civil and cultural rights and freedoms are being methodically undermined,
both by state and non-state actors.’2 Furthermore, ‘while the State has
leveraged draconian laws3 to suppress freedom of expression of speech, and

15
cracked down on students, farmers, activists, public sector employees etc.,4
non-state actors have imposed rigid norms with regard to food, clothing,
language, mobility, religion and free speech on Dalits, Bahujans, the Adivasi,
women, as well as ideological and religious minorities.’5 Finally, ‘the State
has either delayed arresting perpetrators, or arrested journalists6 who have
reported on uncomfortable facts and because legislators affiliated to the ruling
party have intervened positively on behalf of perpetrators.7 In some cases, the
State has also allied with non-state actors in intimidating and attacking
minorities.’8 This is civilizationally and constitutionally alien to India.
This perversion is corrupting the national soul and making Indians forget
the common bonds that tie them together as Indians. This war on the
constitutional idea of India is releasing centrifugal forces that are detrimental
to national well-being. Just to cite some glaring examples, the civil war–like
situation in Manipur, the fears and tensions among India’s minorities (in the
face of cultivated hatred and othering), the subdued but palpable fears among
India’s business class, the multiple student protests, protests by both rural and
urban workers, the acute tensions between elected state governments and
governors, etc. are all emblematic of escalating social tensions that are boiling
over. It has therefore been rightly argued that ‘this escalating spiral of state-
sponsored terrorism and concomitant abdication of civic/welfare functions has
not only created a pervasive distrust of many State institutions but also
destabilized the social fabric of the nation. Far from being seen as the ultimate
moral authority, today the State is viewed as just another contending
stakeholder, untethered from both constitutional and institutional values.’9
Given this dangerous structural regression, the Bharat Jodo Yatra first and
foremost served as a platform for an honest and sincere conversation between
the people of India and the political class. Filling the vacuum created by the
State, the Yatra paid heed to people’s needs and aspirations, and gave voice to
the voiceless, as attested by Nikhil Dey’s and Medha Patkar-Guddi’s essays in
this volume. This may seem superfluous, but the Yatra was also an effort to
appeal to India’s soul. Consciously leveraging karuna (compassion), maitreyi
(camaraderie), satya (truth) and sneh (love), the BJY essentially re-humanized
and re-personalized India. The cathartic effect this has had on mass
consciousness cannot be sufficiently stressed. Even more crucially, in
recreating this unique system of mass engagement (that was used to great
effect during India’s freedom struggle), the BJY acted like a charged magnet
traversing India, attracting progressive forces, marginalized and vulnerable
groups and ordinary Indians towards it. And millions of Indians came out—

16
from far-flung villages and small towns across India. Representing different
things to different people, many normative layers were inscribed onto the
Yatra. Some joined the Yatra to express solidarity with what they perceived to
be a second freedom movement (as the essays by Dr Ganesh Devy and
Professor Mridula Mukherjee–Professor Aditya Mukherjee in this volume
suggest) or just to do something meaningful for the nation. Some came to do
something bigger than their individual selves (as Sridhar Radhakrishnan’s
essay suggests in this volume). Yet others came to bless what they saw as a
dharmic (spiritual) national pilgrimage, while some were just conscientious
bystanders to a grand political spectacle. It is precisely because the BJY was a
palimpsest that this volume tries to conjoin diverse voices in a symphony for
posterity.
In doing so, like the Athenian historian Thucydides, this volume draws
from first-hand experience of the Yatra and then strives to adopt the analytic
distance of the historian. It thus analyses the Yatra structurally, mapping its
anatomy as well as the why, how and what. In this spirit, Bharat Jodo Yatra:
Reclaiming India’s Soul is divided into three sections. Section one lifts the
curtain to outline how this massive exercise was organized and curated. In this
regard, it also touches upon the Yatra’s implications for the Congress party
and its stakeholders. Section two highlights what the BJY was experientially,
for those who walked the entire stretch and those who joined it temporarily.
Finally, section three reflects on what the Yatra is normatively—to the people
and the nation at large. In doing so, the essays in this section draw from the
BJY to propose disruptive and innovative ideas to further the constitutional
Idea of India.
Section one outlines the organizational effort and military precision with
which this monumental exercise was curated. For instance, Meenakshi
Natarajan (from Madhya Pradesh), Utkarsha Rupwate (from Maharashtra) and
Sasikanth Senthil (from Karnataka) describe how methodically the Congress
party reached out to progressive forces outside the Congress ecosystem to
ensure that the Yatra became a people’s movement. This process involved
reconnecting with thousands of movements, civil society organizations and
other cultural/professional/social groups, and created new capabilities within
the party. Going further, Hrishikesh Singh (from Jharkhand) and Utkarsha
detail the extensive arrangements they had to make to facilitate the inclusion
of these groups into the Yatra. Their efforts, they assert, not only trained them
anew, but also changed how people perceived the Congress. In contrast,
Mahima Singh (from Haryana) struggled to effectively disseminate the Yatra’s

17
message to the nation in light of a hostile media. She explains how she and the
Yatra’s communications team had to think creatively to put out the message
through alternative media and social media to circumvent the fog that the
legacy media was deliberately creating.
It is easy to overlook the mechanics of the Yatra, but it is in studying these
efforts that one gets the real flavour of the Yatra and appreciates its sheer
scale. The volume is undoubtedly poorer for not including articles on how the
Yatra’s route was mapped and how the yatri camps were managed. But a
careful reading of the other articles by the Yatra’s organizers makes it
abundantly clear that there were many silent evangelicals within the Congress
who toiled tirelessly to breathe life into the Yatra’s goals. They did so without
seeking credit or favour, suggesting there was substantial ideological fervour
and competence that could rejuvenate the Congress as an effective instrument
to safeguard the constitutional Idea of India.
Section two details the collective experiences of the Bharat yatris.
Although they were conjoined in how they navigated the Yatra’s logistics,
each of them experienced it quite differently, based on their unique socio-
economic, political and cultural worldviews. For some the Yatra was a
historical duty; for others it was a chance to prove their ideological
commitment to their leaders; for some others, it was a chance to do something
purposeful. And despite their unique vantage points, they found
commonalities that bound them together. For example, Chandy Oommen
(from Kerala) walked almost the entire Yatra barefoot to connect in a deeper
way with it, as well as with the most vulnerable. Similarly, Lhingkim Haokip
(from Manipur), who completed the Yatra despite an ankle injury, found
strength in the community she was walking with and in their joint discovery
of the new. Mirroring that sentiment, Kanhaiya Kumar (from Bihar) found
that the collective rigours of the Yatra revealed the inner being of each
individual, which they otherwise shielded with armour they constructed for
themselves. Likewise, R. Sudha (from Tamil Nadu) felt the Yatra broke these
internal barriers and ceilings, and tethered them in new ways. Similarly, Dr
Anshul Trivedi (from Madhya Pradesh) made special efforts to engage in a
dialectic to connect with the moral, intellectual and ideological understanding
of each yatri when faced with his own ‘otherness’ in the south. I think that
dialectic and consequent fraternity is best encapsulated in Jothi Mani’s (from
Tamil Nadu) description of the collective trauma the Yatra suffered when a
senior parliamentarian succumbed to a cardiac arrest while on the Yatra. Their

18
frantic efforts to save him, their shared grief and the strength they gave each
other attest to a special bond that transcends mere camaraderie.
At the most obvious level, section two gives the reader a rare insight into
the thinking of diverse political entrepreneurs, as well as their individual
journeys and worldviews. But what is especially striking is the organic
transcension of psychological barriers and prejudices. It is very interesting to
study how individual paths coalesce to the same realization, and how multiple
tributaries merge into a giant river. The Yatra thus becomes a useful
instrument to study how group solidarities are forged and mass consciousness
can be shaped.
Section three of the volume outlines the raison d’être of some of India’s
foremost stakeholders for joining the Yatra. Most progressives originally came
to express their frustrations (that remained in public conscience but were
being suppressed from being cogently channelized). But the Yatra compelled
most progressives who joined to recalibrate their views on Rahul Gandhi and
the Congress party. For example, Professor Ajay Gudavarthy argues that the
Yatra disrupted the inertia that the Congress Party had settled into, and forced
it to unlearn and relearn ideological politics. Interestingly, this sentiment is
mirrored by senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who asserts that the
Yatra forced the party to confront its internal weaknesses and nurture an army
of political entrepreneurs. Likewise, finding themselves moved by the
commitment and idealism of the Congresspersons they encountered, both
Sandesh Bhandare and Darshan Mondkar argued that the Yatra profoundly
changed their views on the Congress party in general and Rahul Gandhi in
particular.
This is partly because the Yatra consciously confronted the manufactured
amnesia of the injustices of the past decade and the oppressive atmosphere of
hate, as Sridhar suggests in his essay. It also provided, as A.S. Dulat asserts, a
symbolic balm to the most vulnerable and disenfranchised, like the people of
Jammu and Kashmir. The Yatra also connected millions of progressives with
each other, who so far felt they had been entirely alone in their fight for a
liberal, secular and democratic society. As Professor Mukulika Banerjee
suggests, the Yatra and this mini India on the move collectively posed an
alternative imagining of India.
As numerous articles in this volume attest, many people who witnessed the
Yatra (either purposely or through happenstance) perceived it to be a spiritual
journey and proactively told us that we were performing a great tapasya
(sacrifice) for the nation. The fact that like Adi Shankaracharya, Gautama

19
Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi once did, we were walking to propagate what
we believed in conferred on the BJY a special status in people’s minds. As
many yatris would undoubtedly attest, I can recount multiple instances of
bystanders proactively coming up to us to give us fruits, to hug and bless us.
Often we didn’t understand the language, even though what they wanted to
say was abundantly clear. I remember early on in Kerala, since some of us
were sleeping along with the civil society contingent, we had to make our own
arrangements (at least for the first couple of weeks, after which the Congress
party began making arrangements for civil society). After walking over 22
kilometres, we had to first locate the primary school we were to sleep in and
then wash our clothes for the next day. By the time we began hunting for food,
it was past 10.30 p.m. and nearly everything was shut. Exhausted and
conscious that we had to be back on the road before 6 a.m., we went into the
first open restaurant that we chanced upon. While we were waiting for the
food, we were excitedly sharing anecdotes of what we had experienced earlier
in the day. Suddenly the manager came by to enquire if we were Bharat yatris.
His eyes lit up when we replied in the affirmative, and he asked us to stay for
as long as we wanted (even though the cashier had just told us we would have
to order takeout since they were closing in fifteen minutes). He asked if he
could join us and eagerly soaked in our conversation like a schoolboy. Ten
minutes into the conversation, someone brought us food and drinks that we
hadn’t ordered. The manager sheepishly interjected to say that it was his treat,
and refused to entertain our protests. He went on to say his father was a
district-level leader in the Communist Party of India and wanted to join the
Yatra (along with many from the Left parties), but couldn’t due to the
unfortunate temporary tensions between the two parties because of a leader’s
unmindful remarks. He went on to say that while he himself could not join the
Yatra, helping us was his contribution to this second Dandi Yatra. He warmly
hugged me before I left and gave me a small packet of tapioca and banana
chips for the journey ahead. It was during this incident that I first realized that
the Yatra was much more than just political.
Transcending the norms of politics, Bharat Jodo had a profound impact on
all of us. Looking back at when I first began the Yatra, I recall mentally
preparing myself to engage with the masses. I recall feeling unsure—scared,
even—of what I would face. I was very worried about what I would say, or
how they would react, especially since none of us were recognizable leaders.
And so I took comfort in the knowledge that I would be lost in a sea of fellow
yatris. And the first few days I just focused on the act of walking, gazing at

20
India’s wondrous landscapes. But the manner in which people responded just
melted all my fears and anxieties. People could be reductive and say that
Indians are simple and emotional, and maybe we are. But the honest truth is
that those thousands of people waving, smiling and running alongside us in
village after village changed something in me. What were faceless crowds
suddenly became individuals with curious and friendly smiles. I no longer
needed a prop or a shield. And when I started looking deep into their eyes, I
automatically began connecting with them. Their eyes would widen with joy
and anticipation, and they would enthusiastically beckon to us. They would
make their children play with us, and we were inundated with requests for
selfies and group photos. Wizened and weathered old grandmothers would
gently bless us while girls would giggle uncontrollably when we waved at
them. Children would breathlessly trot along with us for as long as they could
(or until their mothers let them), sharing their biscuits and animatedly telling
us their innocent stories. Even cold and aloof people would invariably soften
if we reached out to shake their hands. They would initially hesitate and try to
avoid us, but something inexplicable pulled them back to us. I didn’t know
what more I could do to adequately respond to the overwhelming outpouring
of love and affection we were constantly being washed with, even though we
were nobodies. I suppose this was their way of joining the Yatra, of touching
something historic.
And even more crucially, this process of engagement with the people that
the BJY forced on us began to break down barriers between the yatris. For the
first time, we began to see that most of us share the same struggles, fears and
aspirations. I remember observing a fellow yatri consciously avoiding eye
contact with the teeming masses. He was not only struggling to connect with
people, but was also clearly feeling excluded (since, by then, we were truly
enjoying the spoken and unspoken conversations with the crowds surrounding
us). So a couple of us gently began to prod him to start engaging with
individuals. Pointing out families in distant balconies, we got him to catch
their attention and wave at each one of them. We steered him to converse with
families waiting for us on the pavements. And we literally pulled him to join
us in seeking the blessings of some village elders sitting at the edge of their
doorposts. We soon saw a gradual transformation as he began to realize how
simple it was. And so he began to awkwardly engage with everyone, up to the
point where he wouldn’t leave a place until he had shaken every hand! His
newfound confidence also had hilarious consequences, like when he excitedly
waved to some children who were with their mothers, shouting, ‘Hi babies!’

21
Since it wasn’t clear who the intended recipients of his salutation were, it
solicited stunned silences (and some nasty glares) from all the ladies and
general hilarity from everyone else.
Many such instances made us confront our own prejudices about politics
and politicians. Ironically, we ourselves unconsciously buy into the pervasive
belief that people gravitate towards politics for upward economic and social
mobility, as well as shortcuts to hack life’s struggles. It is true that these are
eternal temptations. But in my limited experience, those in public service are
primarily driven by wanting to do something purposeful—for our people, the
nation and indeed humanity at large. In fact, many of the yatris were from
limited means and couldn’t afford to go back to their homes when the Yatra
stopped for a week. But because the process of staying true to one’s path
involves sacrificing social constructs of the normal, politics is deeply
isolating. Facing overwhelming odds, there is no one to help us navigate the
maze that is politics. This is exacerbated by the fact that political
organizations (like all systems) have an inbuilt inertia to them. Like mindless
bots, we are stuck in a routine that robs us of our agency and creativity. And
once someone hacks that system successfully, most consciously choose to
maintain the status quo. Those conferred with these new-age janeus (sacred
threads that mark certain castes) either include unfavourably or exclude
outrightly (depending on proximity to them and conformity to their rules).
Inexplicably, such people believe that we deserve what we have, but others
don’t. Therefore, for outsiders, politics is a leap of faith. There is no toolkit,
mentor or benefactor for those outside the status quo. We struggle to fit in and
make sense of the norms that both include and exclude. Consequently, young
politicos are forced to wait in the shadows for years, with no opportunities to
do something purposeful or for upward mobility. This is especially
problematic because such people have no safety nets, fortunes or soft cushions
to fall back on.
It is critical to understand the psychological make-up of such people.
Sacrificing all the trappings of a normal life, it takes tremendous fortitude to
stay true to one’s principles and ideology. To not lose oneself. I think all of us
have at one point felt like we are looking at the world through a glass wall—
there and not really there; acting in it, but not partaking of it; and seeing all,
but not really in it. We don’t have the luxury of a normal life, of a routine, or
small perks and comforts. This complex situation can be extremely
overwhelming and alienating. Like a thick layer of ash choking the fires in our
bellies, it afflicts many of us in politics. And so we erect walls around

22
ourselves to avoid any exposure or vulnerability. After all, it is comforting to
be cynical and cold. But the BJY brought together all of us Karnas (to borrow
from the Mahabharata). It reminded us that we were not alone, that we were
united in a covenant to do and be more than our individual selves. Even
though the conversations between the yatris may not have been the most
stimulating, as Dr Anshul Trivedi attests in his article, the Yatra substantively
broke down barriers between all of us, as well as between leaders and
karyakartas (political workers). Only time will tell whether this also translates
into structural reformations that create a more equitable level playing field
within politics.
Thus, as Dr Kanhaiya Kumar suggests in his article, in a very real sense,
the BJY brought out the worst and the best in people. As the ancient Greek
philosopher Heraclitus said, ‘No man ever steps in the same river twice, for
it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.’ That is very applicable to
the Yatra, which humbled and changed most of us. Many of us are different
people today than we were when the Yatra started. A lot of us (including me)
came with preconceived notions of our abilities, skills and importance. We
also came with suspicions and prejudices about our peers. But we all had to
tackle our dogmas, partly in appreciation of the tremendous diversity of ideas
and energies in the Yatra and partly because of the exceptional group of
people that we had the honour of walking and working with. Like Mahatma
Gandhi once taught the party, we learnt to check our own perceptions,
accommodate differences and see our peers as a reflection of ourselves. There
were undoubtedly those who imposed their views, refused to compromise and
conducted themselves in a self-serving manner (whether in seeking publicity,
clamouring for access to the party leadership, trying to ring-fence Rahul
Gandhi or excluding energies and people), as R. Sudha alludes to in her
article. But I think most of us organically accepted that everyone had
something unique to offer, and the only way to further our shared goals was to
work collaboratively and consensually. We learnt to embrace the inherent
contradictions in human nature and not see everything in black and white; we
learnt to share responsibilities without fretting about credit; and we accepted
that penultimately the Yatra (and ultimately everything we were doing) was
about the people.
This may be an excessively romanticized view of the BJY, but I truly
believe it has forged a veritable army of ideologically sharp, competent and
morally upright karyakartas (people of action), who will stand the Congress
party in good stead for the next three or four decades. Both Professor Ajay

23
Gudavarthy and Salman Khurshid assert this. The party is undoubtedly in
much better shape because of the Yatra. This is an understudied phenomenon,
but the BJY disproved the notion that the Congress party’s organization was
moribund or rotten—to its political allies, the BJP and the nation at large. It
has long been theorized that the Congress is ideologically adrift and in
terminal decline. On the one hand, this perception could be attributed to the
inevitable inertia and disarray that sets in after successive electoral losses. To
be fair, there was a moment when the party was so worried about doing the
wrong thing that it stopped doing anything at all. Additionally, after serving
for decades in governments at multiple levels, the Congress party’s primary
mode of engagement with the people was through the State. This resulted in a
Hamlet-like loss of self-confidence, with an apocalyptic sense of doom
within. But on the other hand, this perception was also methodically fomented
by the BJP’s propaganda machinery.
Yet, from reading Utkarsha Rupwate’s, Sasikanth Senthil’s or Mahima
Singh’s essays, it is clear that every aspect of the BJY—from organizing the
logistics (stay, food and transportation of baggage) to arranging the
interactions, reaching out to civil society organizations and people’s
movements, social media and communications, security, etc.—was
meticulously managed by party functionaries. In state after state, the Congress
found numerous political entrepreneurs in the organization who were
exceptionally dynamic and motivated. While senior party leaders oversaw
every minute detail, they empowered younger stakeholders to experiment and
learn through their mistakes. The BJY thus forced the Congress party to
confront and reform weaknesses that had crept in. Years of bureaucratic inertia
were swept away with this radically disruptive movement, which compelled
the party to remember its vibrancy and return to its foundational principles.
And the credit for this must go to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi,
who has done a historic service to the grand old party of India.
The Yatra was also a crash course in human psychology. It enabled us to
minutely observe (albeit in a limited capacity) not just the yatris and other
organizers, but also thousands of people who came to interact with the
Congress party (both in closed-door and walking interactions). One thing was
abundantly clear, something that many in the media have missed (either
because of the blinkers they have chosen to put on or because of fault lines in
how the media is structured). Millions of Indians are struggling with deep-
seated problems (both structural and from the past decade) that are not being
addressed, some poignantly captured in Meenakshi Natarajan’s, Nikhil Dey’s

24
and Medha Patkar-Guddi’s essays. People feel unheard and ignored. And they
are gasping for someone to pay heed. And Rahul Gandhi did not just
mindfully hear them, but also gave them hope of a better future.
But it must be conceded that something has also changed in India’s mass
consciousness. This is a generalization that may not be universally applicable,
given India is a highly stratified society. But by and large, an aggressively
aspirational India doesn’t see the government as their ‘mai-baap’ and certainly
doesn’t feel beholden to the support that has brought them so far in the past
seventy years. This is not to suggest that people don’t need an enabling civic
and political infrastructure to enable them to achieve their functionings. They
do. And it is the government’s moral duty to do whatever it takes to ensure
their needs and aspirations are met. But people don’t want that support to be
characterized as dole. Yearning for samman (respect and dignity), samruddhi
(progress and prosperity) and, most of all, vikaas (development),10 many
Indians are progressively anxious about their place in society and are
displaying a ‘mixture of rebellious emotions and reactionary social ideas’.11
They feel angry at being left out (because of seemingly inadequate prospects
of socio-economic advancement) and angrier at being held back (because of
nepotism, corruption and a perceived sense of unfair State patronage towards
minorities and historically marginalized communities). This heady mixture of
confusing emotions is being exacerbated by the phenomenon of urban
loneliness,12 and is being projected on the internet. One of the consequent by-
products of this phenomenon is a strong belief that the establishment, civil
society organizations, the intelligentsia and sections of the media are delaying
the restoration of Bharat (India) to its past glory; and that liberal, secular and
democratic values are a threat to Indian (and more specifically Hindu) sanskar
(culture). The influence of this mass psychosis cannot be underestimated,
since it has paved the way for a frontal attack on the constitutional idea of
India.
For example, three disparate groups in Maharashtra posed dramatically
contrarian views. On the one hand, some eminent Dalit thinkers and activists
were determined to ask Rahul Gandhi about the Congress party’s stance on
reservations for the Economically Weaker Section. They felt that it
undermined India’s constitutional framework. On the other hand, a delegation
of senior Maratha community leaders wanted to demand reservations for
Marathas (that they felt could be actualized by carving it out from quotas
reserved for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes, popularly known
as OBCs). And diametrically opposite to this, OBC groups demanded the

25
expansion of the OBC quota (after a caste census), but did not want any
carving out of existing entitlements meant for them. It was difficult to
reconcile these three contrasting demands, but this is the foremost question
before India today (especially given this is the first generation, which, though
better educated than the previous, cannot hope for a better lifestyle as easily as
before). Given this, it would have been worthwhile to initiate a conversation
between these groups (if only as a test case). However, when the actual
meeting happened (albeit with only two of the aforementioned groups; the
third had to be slotted as a walking interaction because of paucity of time and
space), efforts were made to dismiss the questions. There also seemed no
meeting ground, and there was palpable distrust in the air.
Finally, Rahul Gandhi proactively intervened to answer the questions
sensitively and intelligently. He also tried to form bridges between different
perspectives, suggesting that they all had similar needs and aspirations.
Disarmingly, Rahul Gandhi also went on to concede that he himself had to
struggle to check regressive impulses within the party organization and invited
those present in the room to join the party to ensure it became a vehicle to
drive their agenda. Unsurprisingly, every single person in that room was a
convert by the end of the meeting.
In interaction after interaction (as Bhanwar Meghwanshi and Darshan
Mondkar attest to in their articles), everything Rahul Gandhi did served as a
foil to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s carefully scripted and manicured
persona. Unlike PM Modi’s foreboding formality and stiffness, Rahul Gandhi
came across as compassionate, relatable and warm. He hugged people,
irrespective of who they were or where they came from (thus transcending
caste, class, creed and any orthodox walls we draw for ourselves). He wasn’t
patronizing or closed-hearted. Two historical figures similarly consciously
juxtaposed themselves to an aloof and formal system—Mahatma Gandhi and
Princess Diana. Becoming brands in themselves, they radically disrupted the
status quo through their body of work and their meaningful expressions of
care. They consciously alleviated the psychological and spiritual emptiness
that has become an everyday experience for a vast multitude of people (which
is partly why they sell their freedoms to authoritarian leaders just to get rid of
their unbearable and crippling anxieties). Similarly, after years of an
authoritarian and imperious leadership model, Rahul Gandhi may be
consciously posing an alternative model of leadership to India and evoking
maanavnishtha Bharatiyata (humane Indian nationalism), something Supriya
Shrinate’s article alludes to.

26
 However, an unrelated but important unforeseen consequence of the BJY
could have been that, in giving a vast plethora of India’s constituent groups a
constructive platform to air their grievances, it acted like a safety valve. This
certainly connected them to the Congress party (and more specifically Rahul
Gandhi), but it may have blunted the fervour that grievances can generate.
While this may seem counterintuitive for a political party (which should have
leveraged such grievances for electoral ends), history teaches us that defeating
an authoritarian state that deploys all the governing instruments of the State
against its opponents requires out-of-the-box thinking. Like the Indian
freedom struggle did against the colonial state, methodical and consistent
guerrilla tactics can chip away seemingly invulnerable foundations. And I
suspect that Rahul Gandhi is methodically recapturing the margins and
moving inwards.
But having said that, much more can be done to constructively mop up the
energies that flowed into the Yatra and the party organization. In large part
because of the manner in which Rahul Gandhi engaged with India, people’s
antipathies about the Congress party have ebbed. There is a pervasive feeling
that the Congress remains the only political force that will not compromise
with the BJP, which is why millions of Indians are psychologically realigning
themselves with the values that it espouses. After almost twelve years of
incessant propaganda by the BJP, the sight of the Yatra relentlessly grinding
on week after week finally resignalled to India his and the Congress’s
steadfast commitment to the nation and the people.
Moreover, having interacted with numerous patriots in the states I walked
in (something my co-editor assures me was mirrored in the remaining six
states), people are desperate to do something. They are no longer satisfied
with being conscientious bystanders. Mirroring India’s civilizational history,
multiple ideas, ideologies and energies are once again itching to flow together
as one united force. The silent majority feels suffocated at the perversions
inflicted upon this ancient civilization’s ethos—at the lies, hatred and violence
drowning out the best in us. We feel our destinies are not of our own choosing,
and are chagrined at the assault on our way of life. We all yearn for the
renewal of a time when honour, integrity and truth counted for something;
when we looked forward instead of backwards, and when our successes were
not contingent on the misfortunes of our fellow Indians. What began as a
murmur is now raring to become a roar. This impulse cannot be left to the
devices of history—it needs to be constructively channelized and

27
institutionalized. This confers a special responsibility on all of us, for history
calls on us to rise to the occasion.
Therefore, instead of looking at the Congress party as a movement (as it
originally was), perhaps it’s time to reimagine the Congress into a nerve
centre that enables and coordinates a million flowers across India. In this
reading, progressive forces can be actively empowered to programmatically
re-engineer both India’s software (culture, values and attitudes) and hardware
(economy, institutions and systems). Re-engineering India’s software would
mean reshaping social consciousness by disseminating liberal, plural and
democratic values creatively through films/serials, books, news, social media,
educational systems and religions (like the Congress movement once did
during the freedom struggle). It would mean escalating the normative and
ideological battle we find ourselves in beyond ‘centres of resistance’ such as
Shaheen Bagh, Jantar Mantar, Roshan Bagh, Azad Maidan and Singhu border.
This is because progressives need to especially convince those who do not
subscribe to liberalism and secularism. This necessitates rebuilding
relationships with the people and moving from the streets into homes. On the
other hand, re-engineering India’s hardware would mean creating a visionary
blueprint of where India should be when she turns hundred (in 2047) by
carefully rethinking socio-economic and political paradigms. It would also
mean redressing structural flaws in India’s existing institutions, creating new
institutions equipped to address fresh challenges and activating all of India’s
systems (her political parties, bureaucracy, community stakeholders, interest
groups, etc.) in furthering India’s constitutional promise. A nation is not
governed just by formal systems and political alliances, but also by informal
systems and non-political alliances.
It is only when progressives comprehensively reshape both India’s
software and hardware that we can create a symphony from the multiple
voices of India and thereby forge a consensus on how we can proceed as a
society. That necessitates giving equal space and agency to all members of an
orchestra. Reading D. Raja’s, Supriya Sule’s, Mehbooba Mufti’s and Sanjay
Raut’s essays, it is clear that all of them see themselves as joint custodians of
the constitutional Idea of India. A sonata to an eventual symphony, the Yatra
conjoined them in a renewed endeavour to reunite the nation and reclaim
India’s soul. In doing so, we can also reclaim our own humanity.

1 ‘Uniting the Nation: Re-engineering India’s Hardware and Software’,

by Pushparaj Deshpande, in Pushparaj Deshpande and Gurdeep Sappal

28
 (eds.), The Great Indian Manthan: State, Statecraft and the Republic,
Penguin Random House India, New Delhi, 2023.
2 Ibid.
3 There has been a 28 per cent annual rise in sedition cases between 2014
and 2020, as per ‘A Decade of Darkness: The Story of Sedition in
India’, Article 14, https://sedition.article-14.com (last accessed on 4
February 2020).
4 ‘Autocratization Turns Viral: Democracy Report 2021’, V-Dem
Institute, University of Gothenburg, https://v-
dem.net/documents/12/dr_2021.pdf (last accessed on 7 April 2021); and
Mahtab Alam, ‘India’s “Extraordinary” Laws Need to Be Revoked, Not
Revamped”, The Wire, 18 February 2021, https://thewire.in/rights/uapa-
sedition-psa-nsa-extraordinary-laws (last accessed on 7 April 2021);
‘Uniting the Nation: Re-engineering India’s Hardware and Software’,
by Pushparaj Deshpande, in Pushparaj Deshpande and Gurdeep Sappal
(eds.), The Great Indian Manthan: State, Statecraft and the Republic,
Penguin Random House India, New Delhi, 2023.
5 ‘The State of the World’s Human Rights 2017/18: India’, Amnesty
International, 22 February 2018,
https://issuu.com/amnestynorway/docs/the_state_of_human_rights_201
72018_ (last accessed on 9 July 2019); Pushparaj Deshpande and
Gurdeep Sappal (eds.), The Great Indian Manthan: State, Statecraft and
the Republic, Penguin Random House India, New Delhi, 2023.
6 ‘Freedom in the World 2019’, Freedom House,
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2019/india (last
accessed on 9 July 2019); Kavitha Iyer, ‘India Has Launched a Sharp
Assault on Press Freedom—but Independent Media Is Determined to
Resist’, Scroll.in, 15 February 2021, https://scroll.in/article/986981/as-
more-indians-turn-to-independent-media-for-news-press-freedom-faces-
sharp-attacks (last accessed on 7 April 2021).
7 Mudasir Ahmad, ‘BJP Leader in Front, Hindu Ekta Manch Waves
Tricolour in Support of Rape Accused in Jammu’, The Wire,
17 February 2018, https://thewire.in/politics/hindu-ekta-manch-bjp-
protest-support-spo-arrested-rape-jammu (last accessed on 9 July 2019);
Shuja-ul-Haq, ‘Kathua Rape Case: 2 BJP Ministers Attend Rally in
Support of Accused’, India Today, 4 March 2018,
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/kathua-rape-case-2-bjp-ministers-

29
 attend-rally-in-support-of-accused-1181788-2018-03-04 (last accessed
on 9 July 2019).
8 Mani Chander, ‘The Rise of India’s Police State: Shadowy New
Agencies with Shadowy Powers’, Article 14, 7 December 2021,
https://www.article-14.com/post/the-rise-of-india-s-police-state-
shadowy-new-agencies-with-shadowy-powers-61aed9b1b6796 (last
accessed on 4 February 2022); Devendra Pratap Singh Shakhavat,
‘Police & Govt Ally with Hindu Groups Intimidating, Attacking
Christians in MP, 0.29% of State Population’, Article 14, 3 February
2022, https://www.article-14.com/post/police-govt-ally-with-hindu-
groups-intimidating-attacking-christians-in-mp-0-29-of-state-
population--61fb458cf16f5 (last accessed on 4 February 2020); ‘Uniting
the Nation: Re-engineering India’s Hardware and Software’, by
Pushparaj Deshpande, in Pushparaj Deshpande and Gurdeep Sappal
(eds.), The Great Indian Manthan: State, Statecraft and the Republic,
Penguin Random House India, New Delhi, 2023.
9 ‘Uniting the Nation: Re-engineering India’s Hardware and Software’,
by Pushparaj Deshpande, in Pushparaj Deshpande and Gurdeep Sappal
(eds.), The Great Indian Manthan: State, Statecraft and the Republic,
Penguin Random House India, New Delhi, 2023.
10 ‘The Battle for India’s Soul’, by Pushparaj Deshpande, in Aakash Singh
Rathore and Ashis Nandy, Vision for a Nation: Paths & Perspectives,
Penguin Random House India, New Delhi, 2020.
11 Wilhelm Reich, The Mass Psychology of Fascism, Organe Institute
Press, New York, 1946.
12 Colette Shade, ‘Capitalism Is Making You Lonely’, Jacobin, 23 August
2021, https://jacobin.com/2021/08/capitalism-lonliness-social-
evaluation-health-socializing-time (last accessed on 18 November
2023); Suchayan Mandal, ‘Urban Loneliness: What It Means and How
to Overcome It’, The Free Press Journal, 22 July 2022,
https://www.freepressjournal.in/weekend/urban-loneliness-what-it-
means-and-how-to-overcome-it (last accessed on 18 November 2023).

30
SECTION I

31
 Yatra Diaries: The Way It Was
Manish Khanduri

P
ain. The first thing—the only thing—you feel is pain. Rivers and seas,
acres of pain as the skin begins to peel from the soles of your feet and you
leak blood into your sneakers. Or your body breaks out in livid, agonizing
rashes in the unending, unrelenting humidity of Kerala. Or, for no ostensible
reason, you just wake up one day with high fever, barely able to put two
coherent sentences together.
No matter, you are a yatri, and you have to keep walking. The heart
pumping at the rock-concert-like launch of the Bharat Jodo Yatra on the
Kanyakumari beach is a distinct memory.
The first few weeks of the Bharat Jodo Yatra were also a diary of pain as
the walkers set out on the journey of a lifetime. Most people can probably
walk 15 or 20 kilometres if they have to only do it for a single day. You can
possibly do it the next day and, just maybe, the next. But then try doing it day
after day with no end in sight, and very quickly your willpower declines
exponentially. You begin to ignore the beautiful south Indian landscape you
are walking through, its magnificent beaches and the tree-lined highways. You
only focus on putting one foot ahead of the other for the next hundred metres,
for the next kilometre, for the next break point for much-needed water
or food.
It didn’t matter if you were Rahul Gandhi, who suffered from an injured
knee, or Kanhaiya Kumar, who had a burning fever and a shoulder injury, or
yatri Rahul Jog from Haryana, who was hit by a (thankfully slow-moving)
car. They all kept going.
For every walker the Bharat Jodo Yatra was first and foremost an intensely
personal exercise. Take away the stirring speeches, the call to a greater
objective and the sense of embarking on a great adventure, and at its most
primal level, and at least in the early days, the Yatra was a physical and mental
challenge that tested most participants.
The first few weeks were perhaps the most challenging, but soon the
bodies hardened and the mind learnt to contemplate the next day’s journey
with serenity. By the time they had crossed Kerala, the yatris had acquired a

32
new physical and mental balance. Once something to marvel at, a day count of
25,000 to 30,000 steps on the pedometer became unremarkable. Indeed,
halfway through, some of the younger yatris took to playing games of
volleyball in the evening, apparently because the day’s 20-kilometre walk
hadn’t been sufficient exercise.
And the yatris came from everywhere. From the son of a former chief
minister of Kerala to a twenty-six-year-old party worker from Uttar Pradesh;
from a woman who had left her infant at home to a seventy-six-year-old party
legend. The yatris were a microcosm of all India, and its stunning
geographical, cultural, religious and social diversity.

Their Working Day

The average day of the yatri merits some recounting, not the least because it’s
the easiest way to understand their unique world. They would be up at 4–4.30
a.m., an early start to the long day ahead, to the sound of hymns wafting
through the camp, the most popular and oft-repeated being ‘Vaishnava Jan To
Tene Kahiye’ or ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’. As we approached the winter
months, the mornings became colder until the water began freezing and had to
be heated in massive, cylinder-gas-fuelled containers for the yatris’ ablutions.
The scene then shifted to the breakfast tent, where you would find your
mates slumped over hot cups of milk or tea or coffee, or a sandwich or a
pakora. Some would be alone in quiet contemplation, others in muted groups,
tendrils of whispered conversations floating in the chilly air.
The pace would then pick up, and how! Between 6 and 6.30 a.m. the
national flag-hoisting ceremony would take place, conducted by the Congress
Seva Dal. Local and sometimes national dignitaries would be asked to act as
chief guests. The rendition of the national anthem, from that first day in
Kanyakumari to the last in Srinagar, never failed to get the heart pumping and
the blood flowing.
Afterwards, the yatris, by then wide awake, would hit the road or be driven
as groups to the starting point. And then the action would begin in dead
earnest, as the Yatra began to unfurl like some gigantic coiled being slowly
coming to life. Gigantic because it had massive groups of people.
First in order of the march came the team of musicians, aka the marching
band! This group of some twenty individuals, all from south India, would line
up in their shining whites, black boots and white spats, with a musical oeuvre
that varied from a half-remembered waltz to Boney M’s Rasputin, their pace

33
going from Andante to Allegro, but not slow, never slow. Their music ever
inspiring, ever cheering.
Sometimes ahead, sometimes behind would be the hand-picked Congress
Seva Dal team of twenty to thirty individuals. They bore the national flag all
the way through the roughly 4,000 kilometres of the Yatra. They were led by
Digvijaya Singh, who, at the age of seventy-six, seemed to have the energy
and resilience of someone fifty years younger.
Behind them came the D—the rectangular, rope-enclosed area in which
Rahul Gandhi walked, along with whoever else accompanied him that day. It
was no less than 100 feet long and 20 feet wide, escorted by up to a hundred
security personnel. The D was a security necessity, but it also became the
focal point because of Rahul Gandhi’s presence.
This was the general order of the march. Behind, and sometimes ahead of
the D, came the other participants—walkers who accompanied the Yatra for a
few hours or for that particular day. These numbered in the thousands.
And what an atmosphere they made! Whether it was the very first day of
the Yatra in Kanyakumari, when the walkers burst forth from their overnight
camp to streets lined with cheering crowds, showering them with flowers; or
the day in Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Wayanad, Kerala, which
seemed to be an unending procession of street dances and music that thrilled
(no other word for it) the blood; or that very, very early morning in Dausa,
Rajasthan, when the dark suddenly turned into bright daylight as people lit
firecrackers all along the route, all at once.
Two or three hours into the walk, the yatris would cover 10 to 20
kilometres. By 9 or 10 a.m., the yatris would arrive at their day’s camp. From
then until the afternoon they were pretty much on their own.
Meanwhile, the other essential activities of the Yatra continued. On any
given day you could see the party general secretary Jairam Ramesh holding a
press conference. Or Rahul Gandhi holding meetings with diverse local
groups—students, tribal communities, widows of farmers who had died by
suicide, and entrepreneurs.

A Moveable Feast
The point of the Bharat Jodo Yatra was to walk the length of the country, but
of course we weren’t ‘only’ walking. The Bharat Jodo Yatra was a moveable
feast, a procession of tens of thousands, sometimes lakhs of people. It was a
series of song-and-dance celebrations, of innovative sloganeering, of colourful

34
tribal events, once even a rock concert—and, most importantly, political
evangelism.
The scale of it is hard to imagine and harder still to describe. So I will
resort to numbers to try and convey what it meant to be part of this
juggernaut.
At the core were around 120 hand-picked Bharat yatris—Congress cadre
that walked the entire journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Around this
core were what we know as the state yatris, the cadre that accompanied the
Yatra through a particular state and ‘handed over’ to the next group of state
yatris at the border. These typically numbered into the high hundreds. Layer
on that the groups that walked the Yatra for a day or two, typically the length
of a district or a large city, and the number swells to tens of thousands of
participants. Now add to that the additional thousands who stepped out of
their homes simply to watch the Yatra go by, those who walked a few hundred
metres with it, and those who participated in it every day or were daily
directly impacted by it—and the number goes up to more than a lakh.
The successful management of these participants on a daily, weekly and
monthly basis is a testament to the organizational ability of the Indian
National Congress. There were six teams just for the management of logistics
of the 120 Bharat yatris. There was a team responsible for setting up camp on
a daily basis, since the yatris’ night-halt venue also changed every day. There
were the electricity, water, vehicle-management and food/provisions teams
that provided other essential services. There were more than sixty flatbed
vehicles with converted containers that acted as mobile rooms, where the
yatris could rest at night. There was a separate ambulance with staff to provide
medical support to the yatris.
It needs to be reiterated that here we are talking about just the support
structure around a few hundred people, including the Bharat yatris and some
other core teams. The management of tens of thousands to lakhs of people
who attended the Yatra is another story.
Take a look at the logistics around the provision of food. On any given day,
breakfast and dinner would see attendants in the hundreds. Lunch around
midday, when the yatris rested, saw people joining from all over, numbering
in the thousands. This didn’t include the separate meal packets for thousands
of participants along the way.
Chalking out the Yatra’s route map, selecting locations and ensuring proper
security along the way were activities that required separate dedicated teams
and intense scheduling, led by the imperturbable and taciturn K.B. Byju.

35
 That the party managed to carry out this exercise with almost no hiccups
over six months is a testament to its organization and logistics management.
This, in the opinion of this writer (himself an MBA with a prior international
corporate career), is worthy of a Harvard Business School case study.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that, as a standalone and sustained
political event, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is unparalleled in scope and scale.
Vinoba Bhave’s fabled walk across India in the Bhoodan movement in the
1950s and 1960s may have taken more time, but it doesn’t match up to the
BJY in the number of people involved. The same goes for Gandhi ji’s iconic
Salt March. It should be noted that we are not comparing impact, but simply
the magnitude of the exercise. No wonder, then, that party General Secretary
Jairam Ramesh called it the ‘longest political walk by the second-oldest
political party in the world’.
Even after a year, what stands out for most yatris is the sheer energy and
excitement each day of the march. Sometimes it was the seemingly unflagging
marching band churning out a popular number after another to the
accompaniment of cheering crowds. And sometimes it was the Seva Dal
‘jhanda tukdi’ in their sparkling white, singing old Congress-party
classics. There were people dressed up in tribal outfits, such as at the border of
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. There were also children dressed up as
Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh.
It is about the stomach-churning excitement generated when lakhs of people
come together at the end-of-the-day rally, such as in Bellary, Karnataka.
The BJY was an exercise in practical politics, a celebration with song and
dance enveloping the senses. But it was also a remarkable operation,
remarkably executed.

The Man in the Middle

If much of the credit for the execution goes to the various state party
organizations and the Congress party leadership, some of it should also be
given to the national, state and local party leaders who made it happen.
But at the centre of it all was one man. Rahul Gandhi was simultaneously
the public face of the Yatra and the lightning rod for much of the criticism that
came its way. Behind the scenes, he was an inspirational figure for the yatris,
not the least because of the intensity and consistency of his commitment to the
Yatra. Like many of the yatris, he had to overcome his own physical
challenges and keep moving despite physical injury. But unlike the other

36
yatris, he had to shoulder the weight of the expectations, which surely had to
feel unbearable at times.
For example, take a look at Rahul Gandhi’s schedule. Apart from walking
20 to 30 kilometres every day, in the first hundred days of the Yatra, he
headlined ninety-four corner meetings (one almost every day), eight press
conferences and eight public meetings or large rallies of more than a lakh
people. Almost every day he had closed-door meetings with diverse groups,
all clamouring for his time. He set a relentless pace, across the unforgiving
hours, days and months of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
For all we know, the Rahul Gandhi who went on the Yatra may have been
exactly the same man who completed it. But to those who walked the Yatra
with him, he seemed changed, perhaps even transformed into a figure of
greater gravitas and a greater presence. Or perhaps it was merely our
perception of him that had changed over time.
The question asked at the outset, even among Congress-party leaders, was
whether he would be able to walk 20 to 30 kilometres day after day. Did he
have it in him? The answer was a resounding yes.
In my opinion, Rahul Gandhi’s gruelling schedule helped redefine his
leadership. For those who observed him in closed-door interactions with tribal
communities, farmers and intellectuals, the breadth of his vision and the
fluency of his communication were revelatory. This wasn’t the ‘Pappu’
portrayed in social media—this was a leader with vision and gravitas. From
the crucible of the Bharat Jodo Yatra emerged a different Rahul Gandhi, one
who was earlier shrouded in the miasma of misinformation from alternate
narratives and fake-news factories.

What Was It All for?

Before the Bharat Jodo Yatra kicked off on 7 September 2023, few inside or
outside the party could have predicted the outcome of what was regarded as a
significant political gamble—one that was taking up an appreciable portion of
the party’s time and resources.
The Yatra turned out to be a jolt of pure adrenaline that ran through the
Congress’s system. Sometimes the act of doing is a precursor to believing.
Pulling off such a huge exercise had a direct positive impact on both the
leadership and the cadre.
In Kerala and Tamil Nadu we saw the infectious, organic energy of the
crowds and a rock-solid party cadre that was an inspiration to the rest of the

37
country. The Karnataka Congress took the occasion to flex its organizational
muscle and prepare for the upcoming state election. States such as
Maharashtra were remarkable for their large organic crowds and the
participation of civil society. Professionals, intellectuals, farmers, small
businessmen, women, children and senior citizens—the Yatra gave the
Congress the opportunity to engage with all of them at the grassroots level on
a scale and at a tempo rarely seen outside of electoral politics.
We witnessed, perhaps after a significant period of time, the coming
together of a wide range of intellectual and activist points of view on a
common national platform of opposition to the BJP–RSS combine. This
happened not only because the Yatra’s core ideology of unity, diversity
and tolerance had gained traction in an environment of communal and social
divisiveness, but also because during the Yatra the Congress actively engaged
diverse individuals, from professors and writers to labour union leaders,
actors, journalists, doctors and jurists.
The Yatra was irrefutable proof, as much to outsiders as within the party
itself, that the Congress was alive and kicking.
But it’s not what happens in the limelight that defines us. It’s the men and
women who joined the Yatra with complete disregard for self-publicity. The
Pandeys from Madhya Pradesh—a husband and wife team—who, unbidden,
walked with us since Kanyakumari; Mohit from Haryana who slept overnight
in fields, seeking shelter in villages; Congressman P. Ganesh from Tamil
Nadu, who passed away after being hit by a speeding truck—he had few
material possessions, had walked 13,000 kilometres in Congress yatras since
1991 and wanted only a certificate to prove he’d walked this one too. They
need to be remembered, because they are the essence of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Ultimately this was a personal journey for all of us. We got up every day at
4 a.m. despite the body crying for more sleep, made a run to be the first to use
the toilets, got dressed and wolfed down a quick breakfast before lining up for
the national flag-hoisting ceremony. And then, in sunshine or darkness, rain or
freezing cold, we hit the open road. We’d think to ourselves that maybe
centuries ago Shankaracharya came this way, or maybe some of the Bhakti
saints walked these paths too. Some of us walked in groups to the beat of
music, dance and cheering crowds; others walked alone, lost in their own
thoughts. But all of us walked across India in the journey of a lifetime. And it
is with a sense of wonder that we recall the Yatra, as if it were a dream.
Yes, we were there. We walked across India in the pursuit of an ideal.
Not many can say that.

38
 A ‘Den Mother’ Recollects Bharat Jodo
Utkarsha Rupwate

I
think each of us craves to do something unique that not only gives purpose
to our lives but also redefines the world. This is especially true for me, who
has grown up hearing stories of how my late great-grandfather, Dhanaji Nana
Chaudhari, played a pivotal role in organizing the Congress party’s first rural
convention at Faizpur in 1937. Three generations of my family have been in
the Congress and kept adding to this treasure trove of stories that I have
cherished. So when the Bharat Jodo Yatra was announced, I felt that a rare
opportunity to do something meaningful had presented itself to me.
In Maharashtra, civil society organizations organically added the prefix
‘Nafrat Chhodo (Shed Hatred)’, both to tip a hat to the 1942 Bharat Chhodo
(Quit India) movement and to make the BJY their own. It was rightly felt that
unifying ‘Bharat’ was a utopian dream. Although this may seem like an
abstract and lofty idea, it automatically signalled to lakhs of progressive
people in Maharashtra that the Yatra was against those forces that were
undemocratic, illiberal and against secularism. And although no one said it
was against the politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ironically protests
were organized against Nafrat Chhodo, thus indirectly conceding the original
point.
In parallel, within the Congress party in Maharashtra, the Congress
Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat and Mohan Joshi (the convenor and
co-convenor for the Maharashtra BJY) first distributed tasks to various
committees headed by multiple leaders. This included accommodation, food
and toilets for state and district yatris, social media and media publicity,
security and passes, sites and structures for the daily corner meetings and the
massive rallies at Nanded and Shegaon. It was a full six-month election
campaign packed into fourteen days! That kicked off endless meetings (both
offline and online), brainstorming sessions and route visits. It is a testament to
the Congress party’s organizational resilience that the party machinery quickly
swung into action and got many of the logistical aspects of the Yatra under
way. Each of the aforementioned issues was effectively handled much before
the Yatra even reached Nanded, the starting point of the Maharashtra leg.

39
 However, Digvijay Singh (the national convenor for the BJY) had given
specific instructions that the BJY was to be a jan-yatra (people’s yatra). Even
though the Congress party had made all the arrangements, it had to ensure the
active participation of every region, community and sector in the BJY, so
every major issue in Maharashtra was covered within fourteen days. This was
a gargantuan task, because while many stakeholders and organizations are
connected to individual leaders, few were institutionally connected to the
party organization. Therefore, it was decided that special efforts needed to be
undertaken to reach out to non-political forces. Hussain Dalwai (a
former Member of Parliament) and Kumar Ketkar (sitting Rajya Sabha
Member of Parliament) were asked to chair a civil society outreach committee
as elder statesmen, while I was tasked with doing the spade work with ten to
twelve key civil society representatives. We were to closely work with an
empowered committee run by Satyajit Tambe and Pushparaj Deshpande,
which curated all the non-party political interactions with Rahul Gandhi in
Maharashtra. We were all ably supported by a large team, which included
Rishika Raka, Carina Xavier and Brijbhushan, who handled different aspects
of the outreach.
The entire team sat regularly to connect with civil society (which included
a huge, amorphous mass of organized and semi-organized individuals,
organizations, movements and alliances, collectively working on various
people’s issues and concerns). For almost three weeks, we called and visited
civil society mobilizations across the state. There were meetings that civil
society organized in Wardha (led by Dr Ganesh Devy, Sandesh Bhandare,
Dhanaji Gurav, Varsha Deshpande, Chetan Shinde, Pallavi Renke, etc.), in
Pune (by Dakshinayan), in Mumbai (by Medha Patkar, Feroze Mithiborwala,
Irfan Engineer, Ulka Mahajan, Pratibha Shinde, etc.), in Nanded (by D.P.
Sawant, etc.), for which we had to travel across the state. It was admittedly
very tiring, but we ended up connecting and reconnecting with a galaxy of
civil society organizations and movements. It was very illuminating to learn
the nuances of different issues and the dynamics of each district.
There is a widely held perception that politicians (both elected and
organizational) are competitively cut-throat and selfish. And conversely, civil
society keeps selfish interests aside for the larger good. This was something
even I secretly believed in, though I have been a political activist for almost
two decades. The preparatory work for the Yatra burst this perception. Even
though the party was competitive (like it always has been), ultimately
everyone came together to work towards the shared goal. And this wasn’t

40
something that had to be enforced from above. It was an organic self-
realization, and this was very evident in the manner in which every leader
(and their respective factions) worked collaboratively. This is not to suggest
that they still didn’t want to do things their own way and have their say. They
did. But they cooperated with each other. Needless to say, much more could
have been done (and certainly more efficiently) if there had been better
communication between factions. If only they had spoken regularly with each
other (rather than during formal meetings), they would have seen that they
were all equally committed to their shared goals and values. Their differences
were only in the way they wanted to do things, but their end goals were the
same. But by and large, things within the Congress ran smoothly.
But in stark contrast, the competitiveness within civil society was cut-
throat. People would say one thing and do the exact opposite. Many senior
activists were unwilling to share credit or work together, and held on to old
antipathies. There were some notable exceptions, but by and large they were
unwilling to band together to lead a unified effort in their stated support for
the Yatra. That is one of the reasons why there were multiple meetings and
efforts. This was compounded by the fact that a couple of very senior activists
started acting like gatekeepers, promising organizations and individuals that
they would be permitted to join the Yatra or meet Rahul Gandhi only if their
demands were met. It was already difficult for us to balance diverse interests
and demands. This was magnified a hundred times because of these efforts to
monopolize access to the BJY. We had to make concerted efforts to reach out
to each stakeholder individually to ensure they felt welcome in the BJY, and to
assure them that it was their Yatra (and they did not have to kowtow to any
individual or subsume their individual identities in any organization to join the
BJY). This whole process was an extremely illuminating experience. Apart
from an intimate understanding of local dynamics, we also learnt to remain
neutral. We were patiently guided (and often pacified when things became too
frustrating) by Balasaheb Thorat and Nana Patole (president of the
Maharashtra Congress). Although they were always understanding towards us,
we often felt embarrassed for constantly troubling them, given they already
had a lot on their plates.
But all’s well that ends well! Thanks to our collective efforts, we had a
wide range of stakeholders working on social, economic, political and cultural
issues who joined the BJY. Over 200 organizations and movements, and over
60,000 eminent citizens and patriots from Maharashtra joined Bharat Jodo
(these are only the ones who formally connected with us; many more joined

41
without registering). We tried very hard to ensure that most of them could
interact with Rahul Gandhi (either in closed-door interactions during
lunchtime or in walking interactions). I was fortunate to attend a few of them,
and was astonished to see how frank and intense they were. I recall one such
interaction with Medha Patkar, Irfan Engineer and other eminent activists. On
the one hand, Medha tai was earnestly trying to flag as many people’s issues
as she could in the one hour that was allocated for the interaction; and on the
other hand, Jairam Ramesh sir was trying hard to stick to the schedule and
also ensure that Rahul Gandhi got to rest for a bit after the interactions. Both
were legitimate imperatives, but eventually clashed. The interaction
descended into a heated exchange and the thirty-odd activists who had come
were also becoming restive, since they all wanted to put forth their issues.
Things only proceeded calmly when Rahul ji himself intervened and patiently
listened to everyone for almost an hour and a half. He even took along those
whom he couldn’t interact with in the first walking interaction of that
afternoon, thereby pushing forward the other scheduled walking interactions.
(Note: To streamline the walking interactions, typically ten to twelve civil
society interactions were organized per day. Delegations were asked to stop
ahead along the Yatra’s route and were spaced out every two kilometres, so
that each delegation would get quality time with Rahul Gandhi. These
delegations were made to walk into the Yatra when it came within sight.)
But I deviate. Simply to ensure most of the work got done effectively, we
had internally divided tasks among ourselves. I took on the task of overseeing
the accommodation and passes for Camp B (where civil society organizations
and non-political forces stayed), and reported to Thorat and Joshi. Pushparaj
worked on the civil society interactions, reporting to Digvijay Singh, Jairam
Ramesh and Rahul Gandhi’s team (K. Byju, Alankar Sawai, etc.). Carina
Xavier worked with K. Byju and Pratishtha Singh in organizing the afternoon
tea sessions. And, finally, Brijbhushan worked with Thorat, Abhijit Sapkal and
Prithviraj Sathe in streamlining the Yatra’s logistical operations.
While Camp A (where the Bharat yatris walking the entire Yatra stayed)
was entirely managed by the Congress party’s central team, Camp B and C
fell into the state leadership’s lap. Camp 3 was organized by local leaders and
was to meet the needs of those people who would join the Yatra for one day.
But Camp B was where all the buzz was! Pradesh yatris and Inter-State civil
society yatris, who walked for at least two days in the fourteen days in
Maharashtra, were housed in Camp B.

42
 In theory, my job was limited to issuing passes on day one, and then
broadly supervising that Camp B was functioning smoothly. But all my
expectations went out of the window within an hour! The first problem we
faced was that of space. It was anticipated that not more than 250 people
would stay at Camp B. To our surprise, the first day started with 600 civil
society yatris, and every day around 400 more were added! We had to
scramble to arrange for food, accommodation, sanitation and medical facilities
in the middle of the night. Everyone had already walked 25 kilometres that
day, and it was simply not fair to tell them to go stay in motels nearby (in any
case, the parts of Maharashtra we were walking through barely had
guesthouses, let alone motels and hotels). Hundreds of mattresses and mobile
toilets had to be trucked in within an hour from another district. Meanwhile,
we had to handle a massive, ever-growing crowd patiently and sensitively. I
had five volunteers, and quickly realized I would need more Congress
volunteers to help out. It was all hands on deck! The second problem was
issuing passes to so many yatris and registering them on the spot (this was our
only way to cross-check that no unwanted intruders were entering the Yatra).
We were issuing passes like ticket conductors to hundreds of yatris, then
ensuring they were fed and making sure each person got a mattress and
blanket. That evening, although I hadn’t walked the Yatra because I was busy
with these arrangements, my pedometer clocked 30,000 steps! My team was
running around even more than me, so I shudder to think of the state of their
feet that evening. We finally managed to get everything settled sometime
around midnight, which is when we had to make do with a modest meal of
plain rice and besan (gram lentil).
But there was absolutely no rest because we had to wake up at 4 a.m. to
ensure the mobile bathrooms (which were nothing more than three plastic
walls and a curtain) were functioning. This was no mean feat, given
temperatures were dipping below ten degrees. When that was sorted, we had
to wake up the yatris, who had to get ready, have breakfast and then be ready
to join the Yatra at 5.45 a.m. It was physically impossible to wake up
everyone individually, so I had to resort to our tried-and-tested jugaad
(innovation). I commandeered the audio and stereo systems, and started
playing patriotic songs (like a nationalist disc jockey). Between each song, I
was making announcements. ‘Yatriyon, kripiya uth jaiye. Jaldi se snan aur
bhojan kar lijiye. Rasta ruka hain (Yatris, please wake up. Quickly bathe and
have food. The road awaits us).’ Although I didn’t intend it to be so, many

43
yatris woke up both bewildered and laughing, saying they imagined they had
been magically transported to a railway station!
Keeping aside the collective joke at my expense (which earned me the
moniker ‘Den Mother’), our duties were far from over. After the
announcements, our team had to convert the pass-issuing station into a
temporary cloakroom. We had to collect everyone’s luggage, issue tags and
make sure each bag was loaded on to trucks that would ferry them to
wherever we were to halt at night. Only when all this was done did we finally
get to have breakfast and join the Yatra.
Walking the entire day in scorching heat was difficult, but unlike the other
yatris (who had the small luxury of resting after they had walked the 25
kilometres), we had no rest. Our real jobs began once the Yatra was
completed. Each of the camps was located about 20–30 kilometres from any
town or water source. So one of our first duties was to arrange for a minimum
of six water tankers for every camp per night! We had to also arrange for a
generator to load this water into the washrooms and mobile toilets. On one
particular night halt, we realized that we had sufficient water tankers but the
generator van had abruptly vanished. We stayed up the whole night waking up
people and begging them to lend us a generator, just so the yatris could
resume the padyatra.
Another problem that cropped up was that after two districts, because of
some miscommunication, fresh passes were printed by the leaders in charge of
those districts. We could have continued with the earlier passes, but
unfortunately the police had already been briefed about the revised passes. So
on the fourth day of the Yatra, we again had to take back all the passes issued
and reissue them afresh. This was completely avoidable, and just reinforces
the earlier point I was making about the need for streamlined communication.
But I think this was still manageable. What was especially problematic was
the disruptive elements within civil society. While an overwhelming majority
of the civil society yatris was considerate, eager and helping us in this great
adventure, a few disruptive elements began misbehaving with others. They
reportedly began forcing younger civil society yatris to carry their bags, get
them food and massage their legs. Over two dozen yatris complained about
this organization to me. When I flagged this to other Congress leaders, I was
astounded to learn that the same elements had also roughed up some young
Congress workers in Camp A (during lunchtime, when the lunch sites for
camps A and B were in close proximity). Naturally all of us were furious at
what was happening, and wanted to do something to protect the other yatris.

44
We were directed by our leadership to be even more attentive to other civil
society yatris and make sure nothing like this happened.
That whole incident left a bitter taste in our mouths, but we reconciled
ourselves by accepting that not everything could be perfect. And I was
gratified to see how unanimously every single Congress leader acted in the
best interests of people outside the Congress party organization. Not once did
anyone say that this didn’t concern them or not show concern for the civil
society yatris. On that occasion I felt very proud because it reaffirmed to me
that the Congress party has a heart that beats strongly for the people of India.
But leaving these minor problems aside, I was very happy that I was given
the opportunity to manage Camp B. Every day was an unsaid affirmation of
Bharat Jodo (India United). For example, every morning we were greeted with
bells of aarti (Hindu prayers) and quiet chants of namaz by our yatris. Each
community prayed in close proximity and went to have breakfast together.
What could be a bigger testament to India’s civilizational ethic of vasudhaiva
kutumbukum (the whole world is one family)? Secondly, many civil society
yatris went out of their way to not just praise our team for the work we were
doing for their comfort, but many started helping out as well. I recall how an
elderly yatri started helping us prod yatris to have food before it was over.
Another very young yatri (who had taken special leave from his school to join
the yatra) insisted on meeting each yatri and hearing their life stories. He
would hold the hands of elderly yatris who would sometimes struggle in the
hustle-bustle of the Yatra and tell them stories that he had picked up to
comfort them. Likewise, a young partially disabled boy had run away from
Himachal Pradesh to join the Yatra (defying his parents, which we rectified by
speaking to them and convincing them that he was well looked after). Many
of us organizers would get very frustrated when something went wrong or
didn’t go our way. On those occasions, we would all look after each other,
sharing candies or just talking to each other so we wouldn’t feel alone. We all
felt as if we were part of a special family, bonded together in a great
adventure.
I also admire the resilience of the real Bharat—those ordinary Indians and
Congresspersons I bonded with in Camp B. We were housed in the strangest
of locations—right from wedding halls to farm fields to a vacant hospital
(with yatris sleeping in wards and on hospital beds) and even in
dharamshalas! During a rest day in Hingoli, Camp B turned into a dhobi ghat
(washermen’s hub) with patriotic songs ringing in the air! It was a surreal
experience. Similarly, a middle-aged woman had joined us from Kerala. She

45
was unable to communicate in any language other than Malayalam, but we
somehow found a way to communicate with her. A young software engineer
joined us from Pune armed with his laptop, so that he could be part of the
Yatra and still be at work ‘online’! Many times, my car became his portable
charging point. Then there was the young couple who joined the Yatra with
two infants, just to make sure they contributed their bit to this historical feat.
On another day, the lunch hour was near a school, and instead of resting,
many yatris began playing with the children in their playground. The
schoolteachers finally gave up trying to control all of us, and even joined us in
the festivities!
I have never experienced such ‘positive’ mass euphoria before. It
genuinely felt as if we were part of a national movement, much like the
freedom movement that our forefathers fought in and died for. That day, in
fact every day of the Yatra, was like a festival. When I think back, I honestly
cannot remember the hardships or pains we all faced. All I remember is the
buoyant spirit of Bharat Jodo.
Today, as I sit back and reminisce about the Bharat Jodo Yatra, I am awash
with a feeling of gratitude, pride and contentment. I can tell myself and my
child that when my country was going through its darkest period post-
Independence, I did my bit and stood for India! The Yatra is over, but the task
of Bharat Jodo still lies before us. But as I always tell myself, ‘Hum Honge
Kamayab, Ek Din (Together we shall overcome, one day).’

46
 A Twist in India’s Tryst
Mahima Singh

F
or a long time, I had been struggling to find a sense of purpose in politics.
In fact, this quest had been on the back of my mind for long, and I found
myself seeking meaning in vain ever since my inadvertent stint with politics
began. In fact, the overall politics and discourse at the grassroots appeared
blatantly bereft of ideological purpose, forcing me to pause and introspect
more often than not. So when I joined the Yatra, although I didn’t know what
to expect, I had deliberately lowered my expectations. But then I heard
something in Kochi, Kerala, which resonated with me, which gave me the
path to a truth I had been searching for:

It is a true honour for me to be able to walk these roads that you

walk to go to the offices, to drop your children to schools, to fulfil
your daily needs at the markets. When the idea of the Bharat Jodo
Yatra was being contemplated, some suggested doing it by car. I
said if the Yatra happens by car, I will not be part of it. I will only
undertake the Yatra if I can walk the roads that our people walk to
travel every day.

Rahul Gandhi spoke these words, which may seem innocuous, but which I
found profoundly stirring. Here was a man that could have anything the world
could offer, and instead of taking the easy way, was deliberately choosing to
take the less-trodden path. This resonated with me because I, too, had
consciously decided to give up many things to be in public service. And that
deliberate sacrifice for something bigger than ourselves was something that
instantly spoke to me.
Stirred to the core, I genuinely felt I was witnessing not a speech but a
universal truth. His words spoke to the best in us. I may be naive, but I feel
that all of us just want to live with integrity and fight for equality, fraternity
and dignity for all. I had inherited these core values along the way from my
grandfather—a thorough Congressman unto death, who had recounted
countless tales of prabhat pheris and padyatras that he had participated in or

47
heard about. And suddenly, here was a man offering an opportunity to recreate
the courage, sacrifice and idealism of our forefathers.
While I still wondered about where and how I would put my aahuti
(offering) in this historical havan (sacred fire) for mankind, I quietly
registered myself on the official website for the Bharat Jodo Yatra. I had not
the remotest idea what fate was brewing for me. And when I was asked to join
the Yatra as a media coordinator, tasked with organizing press conferences,
preparing notes that informed press notes and liaising with the media in
different states, I jumped with exhilaration at this once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity. Once the initial excitement had passed, I became a bit
introspective. Yes, it was a huge privilege, but it was also an enormous task
for a novice. I was a media panellist (but only an amateur) and a third-
generation ‘Congressi’. But did this equip me enough to work on such a huge
scale?
With great difficulty, I braced myself for the assignment and set out for the
journey. Only one thing was certain to me (that I kept repeating to myself like
a mantra)—that no matter what, I would ‘walk’ the task like never before,
dutifully, zealously, curiously, consistently. This was my chance to discover
the politics that I’ve known all my life but never experienced. This strong
sense of commitment was not just to the Yatra but also to myself.
As we began our preparations, we could not help but notice the
speculations around. The Yatra was soliciting curiosities galore and
everyone’s enthusiasm was at their peak. After I, along with most others, had
been briefed by the leaders of the Congress party’s media and publicity
department, I established contact with others whom I would be sailing this
ship with. Innumerable WhatsApp groups, Zoom meetings and long messages
were exchanged with my fellow team members for weeks on end. Each of us
proposed our own vision on what we could do. But we came together for the
larger cause and amicably amalgamated our different ideas. But soon the
famous saying ‘Man proposes, God disposes’ kicked in. At the back of my
mind, I had always suspected that no amount of preparedness could ever
suffice. We can put together the most impeccable roadmap, yet never quite
prognosticate the road ahead. And that’s what ended up happening! But I can’t
complain. In fact, the reality of what we experienced and grappled with only
amplified the adventure we had set out on.
On the very first day of Onam, the Bharat Jodo Yatra knocked on the doors
of a festive Thiruvananthapuram in God’s own country. Being my first All
India Congress Committee (AICC) assignment, most of those present were

48
strangers to me, except for my two teammates, Lavanya Ballal and Neeraj
Mishra. Having ensured the facilitation of necessary staples for the media
fraternity riding the signature ‘Media Truck’, which ran a few metres ahead of
the man of the show, I marched along with the Sewa Dal group nearly 2
kilometres ahead of the main cavalcade, arriving at the press conference
venue. It was already packed with the media, so it was quite unnerving to find
that there was no internet connectivity, which was a serious problem, given
that our primary agenda was to launch the Bharat Jodo Yatra anthem!
Nonetheless, with a lot of team spirit and a healthy dose of the famous Indian
jugaad (make-do solution), Lavanya distracted the house, I paired my phone
to the LED screen and Neeraj stood behind the wall right outside the room to
ensure his mobile hotspot gave us internet inside. Before anything else went
awry, the anthem was launched without incident. From that day, we all had to
think on our feet, make quick decisions and work collectively. Lavanya took
charge of figuring out the logistics and circulating information to the media
through the WhatsApp group she had created. I volunteered to check on the
logistics for the media, writing the press releases and transcribing Rahul
Gandhi’s speeches. Neeraj, on the other hand, was commandeered to be one of
the frontiers near the media truck. Over and above these tasks, we had to
ensure seamless coordination between the AICC, the Pradesh Congress
Committee and the media (both national and regional). Our jobs ranged from
setting the agenda and tone for the daily press conferences to communicating
the programme to the media, satisfying their multiple queries, coordinating for
any special story requirements and dealing with security hurdles (including
barring the media personnel from entering, which can be a harrowing job).
The media, true to its nature, would experiment with novel ways to chase
an exclusive story by trying to circumvent the security, the party organization,
the many bystanders and, of course, us, the hapless coordinators. We had to
balance their eternal quest for an exclusive with the Yatra’s integrity with
great patience and tact. Every day was spent in figuring out newer excuses
that would prevent any unsolicited intrusion, and yet ensure a constructive
discourse. Over the course of the first few weeks, I noticed a clear difference
between the regional and the national media. While they were united in their
competitive clamour for access, the regional media was genuinely interested
in covering the Yatra. The infectious vibe of the grand adventure we were on
and their curiosity about all of us were evident. The media was equally
affected by it, and its reportage was consequently profuse both on the national
and the regional platforms, as well as the conventional and digital ones. The

49
only difference was in the nature of nuances they brought up. They were
responding to the local craving for tales of the Yatra.
However, with time, I began noticing a slight change in the national media,
which began to put out speculative and frankly bogus stories on the Yatra. I
was quite astonished at how different the national media’s portrayal of the
Bharat Jodo was from the reality I was seeing every minute with my own
eyes. If there was any doubt about whether there was a compromised media in
India, my experience put to rest those thoughts. It was abundantly clear that
sections of the national media were deliberately furthering a line of argument
that was beneficial to the Bharatiya Janata Party and was completely out of
touch with reality. I was reminded of the former Chief Justice of India N.V.
Ramana, who had commented once that ‘when a media house has other
business interests, it becomes vulnerable to external pressures. Often, the
business interests prevail over the spirit of independent journalism. As a
result, democracy gets compromised.’ How prescient he was. Some in the
national media continued to take stabs in the dark, just vilifying the Yatra.
I was quite angry at how unfair and untrue it all was.
But we had a job to do, so I couldn’t let myself indulge this anger
(however legitimate it may have been) for too long. The national media
manufactured controversies around Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with a local
bishop, around our homage to Swami Vivekananda’s statue in Kanyakumari
and the implanted Savarkar cut-outs in between our publicity campaign. But
no matter what they did, we tackled their hostility with the truth. We kept our
cool and put out things factually. And no matter what was tried, they failed to
disrupt the patriotic tenor that was only growing by the day. Like the ebbing
of the tides, the Yatra continued to march, tackling the hurdles and small
victories that inevitably came our way.
In the Maharashtra stretch of the Yatra, which I was assigned to coordinate,
I was a bit alone. Due to a strange quirk of fate, neither the media in-charge,
nor the fellow media coordinator assigned along with me were going to be
there on duty, since they were both preoccupied with the assembly elections in
Himachal Pradesh and New Delhi. As I was nervously fretting about whether I
would be able to handle the massive responsibility, someone suggested I avoid
Maharashtra altogether. His reasoning was that the terrain was harsh and had
no good hotels (which sometimes became necessary for the press conferences
and also for our stay, especially when we had to work until late at night). I
was determined to not heed that advice, because I was firmly committed to the
cause that my leader (and I) had taken up. At the risk of looking silly (which I

50
secretly apprehended) or naively idealistic (a common feedback I keep
getting), I decided to stay true to the path I had committed myself to. In fact,
Rahul Gandhi’s clarion call of ‘Daro Mat (Don’t Be Afraid)’, which was
meant for something else, became a source of strength for me. Plus, I kept
telling myself that if Rahul, with an injured knee, was walking 25 kilometres
per day, braving all kinds of trials, why couldn’t I? And so I soldiered on!
Nanded (which is a sacred place for Sikhs, given it is Guru Gobind Singh’s
resting place) embraced me warmly as the Yatra commenced there on the day
I began my personal yatra on this planet—7 November. I can safely say that it
was the most meaningful birthday I had ever had. A torch procession marked
the beginning of the Maharashtra leg of the Yatra, paving the way for
powerful headlines (and hence lots of work for me as well). The Maharashtra
leg also included the biggest rally that Shegaon had witnessed in decades
(which was again a lot of work for me). But the most difficult and emotionally
taxing part of my job in Maharashtra was the deaths of two dedicated yatris—
the first passed away while marching on the very first morning in the state,
and the second died in an accident near the campsite. The mood of the Yatra
changed immediately and cast a pall on everyone in the Yatra. There were
some unscrupulous attempts by people outside, who tried to milk these two
dreadful episodes for political mileage. All the yatris were downcast and
upset, for we had formed strong friendships. So we were infuriated at how low
people could stoop.
The Maharashtra leg was also trying in other ways. In one instance, the
regional media threw tantrums and personally attacked me on the Bharat Jodo
Yatra WhatsApp circulation group for Maharashtra. The controversy was that
one odd former journalist from the local newspaper Loksatta had managed to
slip through the security of the main cavalcade to march alongside Rahul
Gandhi, naturally sparking an outburst among his peers, who felt he was
getting preferential treatment. Even though it wasn’t my fault, in the interest
of the party, I spent an entire evening repeatedly apologizing for the
inadvertent breach to individual media personnel. That incident had just faded
into the background when yet another entitled journalist managed to slip into
the main lunch area, where all Congress leaders and yatris were resting during
the afternoon break. Once again, the media fraternity was livid at the
preferential treatment he got. This time around, I was even less to blame,
given the media person’s walk-through was actively facilitated by someone
from within the Congress party’s state unit. Yet, once again, I went out of my
way to pacify everyone in the media. A testament to the warm culture within

51
the Congress, my top boss in the media department, Jairam Ramesh,
volunteered a sincere apology the next day at his press conference. That
worked like a talisman and the situation was defused. Jairam Ramesh was a
good mentor to many of us, since he would generously allow us to shadow
him for lessons and the sense of reassurance we derived from it. Since the
media department is full of women, this also showed us his genuine support
for women’s empowerment.
In fact, Jairam Ramesh delegated a lot of work to me. Maharashtra’s senior
leadership had suggested we hand out flyers in Marathi, explaining the
purpose of the Yatra. We were also tasked with the distribution of a thousand
special-edition copies of the National Herald and Navjivan newspapers. We
were able to seamlessly accomplish the task with support from the Sewa Dal
volunteers Aivaran and Rajendra Prasad (delegated by the Sewa Dal training
in-charge Devendra Sharma), as also from Abhijeet Deshmukh and Abhijeet
Sapkal, two of Maharashtra Congress’s finest lieutenants (who also efficiently
delivered on every other request put forth by me).
On other occasions, I was not so lucky. On one admittedly surreal
occasion, an official media truck with Telugu branding was travelling in
Maharashtra (which in itself was a problem, given our regional sensitivities).
But it resulted in even more hilarious consequences when the driver began
screaming for the truck to be refuelled in a language none of us understood.
So we had to quickly navigate through thousands of yatris to get hold of a
Telugu speaker who could act as an impromptu translator!
But the Yatra was also a crash course in managing party organizations.
Every organization has some unsavoury elements. I recall some local
colleague cribbing about me, yet evading when I attempted to resolve the
situation. Similarly, at times, I had to dig out some critical data at the eleventh
hour (with no internet and even less help). I also came across misogyny,
manipulation, backstabbing, desperation, vanity and intimidation. The
interplay of these human complexes and sentiments heightened as the cadence
levelled up, inside and outside the organization. But like with life, as with the
Congress party. And even though such situations were emotionally stressful
for me, I took it in my stride and moved on. I was lucky enough to have many
peers who went out of their way to offer me solace and strength.
Perhaps the favourite part of my job was to sit through the civil society
interactions to scribble down raw notes that would later be formulated into
detailed press releases as the media had been strictly kept out of sensitive
terrain (especially after the controversy around the interaction with a pastor,

52
which had deliberately been misrepresented). The core purpose of these
interactions was to create a safe listening zone for people who were fighting
many battles against communalism, casteism, economic and food insecurity,
lack of opportunities, etc. Rahul Gandhi was clear that these interactions were
not meant to be used for political purposes, but instead to hear the people’s
problems. That is why it had been decided that these interactions were to be
strictly recorded internally by the Congress and circulated later for public
access. I also suspect that Rahul Gandhi, Digvijay Singh and Jairam Ramesh
consciously used these interactions to mentor younger Congresspersons
(while subtly positioning them in front of key people from each state). In fact,
that is where I met this book’s editor, Pushparaj, who was curating the sixty to
seventy sitting and walking interactions in Maharashtra. Similarly, P.C.
Vishnunath (Member of the Legislative Assembly) did the same work in
Kerala. Likewise, even though I wasn’t there, I know that Sasikanth Senthil
(former IAS) did similar work in Karnataka, and Meenakshi Natarajan
(former Member of Parliament) and Shobha Oza did so in Madhya Pradesh
(while others did so in other states). From the two people I witnessed working
in Kerala and Maharashtra (I’m sure various Congress leaders did so in every
state), I know they reached out to every corner of their respective states for a
couple of months before the Yatra and identified the right issues to bring to the
leadership. I sometimes saw state leaders squirming uncomfortably because
they did not want certain issues being raised to the national leadership. But the
party leadership appreciated the call taken by these younger people.
The interactions themselves were heartfelt and enlightening. Rahul Gandhi
charmed everyone with his knowledge and sincerity. And the many, many
people who came felt very grateful that they could flag issues and even debate
with us as equals working for the nation (unlike the BJP, which sees them as
enemies). I could clearly make out the difference that made our leadership
stand out from the rest—it was the pure intent to understand and help Indian
society. I am sure that most of these people who came for these interactions
saw the Congress party in a whole new light largely because of these
interactions. I think that’s why lakhs of Marathi manush (people of
Maharashtra) filled the streets and grounds, and we had celebrities from the
film industry walking with commoners like brothers and sisters. The
Maharashtra leg of the Yatra was filled with something magical that stayed
with us.
On my part, I just felt fortunate for getting an intensive orientation on the
key issues that Kerala and Maharashtra face. One of the conversations that has

53
been etched into my soul forever was the one with intellectuals, poets and
writers from across the state whom Rahul Gandhi asked to forge an alternative
term to ‘Dalit’, since the connotation therein might be negatively construed.
That conversation was very stimulating and thought-provoking.
In retrospect, the Yatra was a massive learning experience for me. The only
constants in my life were my 3.30 a.m. alarm and a minimum of 25,000 daily
steps on my pedometer. Everything else was completely dynamic. From the
timely dissipation of information about the schedule the next day (kept
confidential until hours before) and maintaining a constant dialogue with the
media to coaxing essential information out of a few control-freak colleagues,
fixing the venue, managing the daily press conferences, arranging one-on-one
interviews, and escorting and accompanying the interviewees until it was over
to avoid any unbecoming event, the chores kept adding up. Towards the end
of my Yatra, I had even prepared a blue book for reference for others who
would come after me, who could benefit from my learnings. To quote my
immediate boss Pawan Khera’s response when I wrote in to express my
heartfelt gratitude, my only thought was: ‘May our creed grow.’
I feel that the Yatra was a havan (sacred ritual) that was purging India’s
political space. And it was preparing each of us in the Yatra for this larger
battle. The Yatra was not just making us more resilient, but also connecting us
in a conducive and constructive culture. We were all, in that sense, individual
rivers flowing into a larger sacred river. Today each Congressi who was in the
Yatra is a proud franchisee of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’.
Transcending boundaries (both geographical and emotional), the Bharat Jodo
Yatra rekindled the flame of patriotism and purpose in our hearts, and is sure
to reshape India’s tryst with destiny.

54
 Bharat Jodo and Civil Society
Hrishikesh Singh

Planning the Yatra

L
ooking back at the Bharat Jodo Yatra almost a year since it wrapped up
feels surreal, almost as if I were revisiting a fantasy. Did we really walk
almost 4,000 kilometres? Did I really manage to walk from Kanyakumari to
Kashmir? In fact, what I recall most distinctly is how incredulous I was when
I heard that the Yatra would be conducted after the Indian National Congress’s
Jaipur session. Having worked as a political activist for almost a decade, my
first instinct was that this would prove to be an ill-fated experiment and would
just mean a diversion of precious time and resources. Plus, it was perhaps a
weak response to the sorry state of India’s contemporary political situation.
But as a loyal Congressman, another voice inside my head kept nagging me to
defer to the wisdom of my party leadership. In that spirit, I kept thinking back
to the electoral impact of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh’s Narmada
Yatra and reconciled myself to the possibility of the BJY having a similar
outcome.
Over time, escalating coverage of the impending Yatra in the media
intensified my interest and enthusiasm towards what was being described as a
pilgrimage. Then, out of the blue, on 20 August 2022, Gurdeep Singh Sappal,
who had taken on the responsibility of coordinating with civil society on
behalf of the Congress party, extended an invitation for my participation in the
Bharat Jodo Yatra. At the same time, he delegated the Samruddha Bharat
Foundation (SBF) to coordinate the entire process, since he would be busy
with other party work. I was thrilled to be asked to support the Yatra in some
capacity, even though my apprehensions about resource constraints and the
ability to balance personal commitments lingered. But I kept them to myself.
Ten days later, I participated in a hybrid meeting (both virtual and
physical) convened by SBF, which afforded me insights into the Yatra’s
preparations. I met many eminent civil society activists, including Nikhil Dey,
Amitabh Behar and Yogendra Yadav, who had gathered to offer suggestions
on how civil society could be invited. Our deliberations included the planning

55
for how to invite and involve civil society without making them lose their
individual identities, arranging provisions for their accommodation and travel,
emergency contingencies and the issuance of passes to facilitate entry into the
camps where the yatris were supposed to get their meals. Given the
complexities associated with coordinating with diverse groups (including
Congress-party leaders and civil society organizations, many of whom had
previously been against the Congress party), it was decided that two distinct
teams would be formed. The first team, designated the ‘Mobile Secretariat’,
comprised SBF’s team, including Dr Nagorao Zapate, Kavita Sharma, Atif
Raza and Armaan Lilothia, who were to coordinate with civil society across
India and provide support from the Delhi office. The second team, designated
the ‘Coordination Team’, was entrusted to me and was to be supported by
Sunil Kumar, Dilip Jha and Lalu Kanojia (all idealistic university-going
students), who had already left for Kanyakumari for assistance. Gurdeep
Singh Sappal and SBF’s director Pushparaj Deshpande assumed collective
responsibility for streamlined coordination between both the teams.
The joint responsibilities of the two teams involved accompanying civil
society participants in the Yatra, identifying and addressing their needs,
facilitating their sustenance, ensuring respectful entry to resting/food places
and creating requisite documentation (whether passes or lists) for interactions
with Rahul Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh, Jairam Ramesh and other senior leaders
in the Yatra. These tasks were compounded because security personnel
deputed by each state police department was changing every 8 to 10
kilometres. This meant we had to deal with fresh people who didn’t
understand what civil society was and why they needed to be allowed in the
camps at every stop (and it required tremendous patience and street-smartness
to manage this twice every day for six months). It meant overcoming language
barriers between civil society; it also meant keeping a microscopic watch on
who was joining the Yatra under the civil society banner (which, given it was
meant to be amorphous and open to all, represented challenges, since just
about anyone could and did join. This meant doing rigorous background
checks on the spot, lest antisocial elements join to disrupt the Yatra). And, of
course, there was the problem of finding accommodation for civil society in
the early stages of the Yatra. Despite these challenges, I am proud to say that
each responsibility that was entrusted to us was shouldered diligently without
any inconvenience or complaint to the non-Congress participants. This was
because our primary mandate was to ensure that each person joining the Yatra

56
felt welcomed, so they could eventually own the Yatra as their own
(something the SBF leadership had strongly impressed upon all of us).
For each of these tasks to be successfully completed, we needed a
streamlined nerve centre. Therefore our teams had dedicated mobile phones,
emails and location-sharing technology to aid civil society. They proactively
procured the Yatra’s day-to-day schedule (including travel plans, distances,
routes and designated resting locations), disseminated it to all civil society
yatris, both already in the Yatra and wanting to join it through separate
communication channels. This meant coordinating with the Congress party
leadership that was organizing the Yatra the night before, and individual
coordination with civil society yatris before the commencement of each Yatra.
This was constant, gruelling work that placed a huge burden on both teams
day after day. But it was done most judiciously.

The Beginning
I arrived in Kanyakumari from Ranchi via Thiruvananthapuram on 6
September 2022 and the commencement of the BJY started with Rahul
Gandhi’s address in Kanyakumari on 7 September. Accompanying me in the
coordination team in Kanyakumari were Sunil Kumar, Dilip Jha and Lalu
Kanojia. To ensure a smooth initiation, both Gurdeep Sappal and Pushparaj
Deshpande also embarked on the journey along with us from Kanyakumari. In
the Tamil Nadu and Kerala legs of the journey, while the nation only
witnessed massive public support and crowds, for us it was a logistical
nightmare. Even though the Congress party had tried hard to ensure that the
Yatra’s flavour was non-political, it was impossible to stop local leaders and
supporters from enthusiastically joining in. Furthermore, many ordinary
Indians joined the Yatra and made it into a huge walking festival. Now most
people from civil society who joined were not used to such frenzied crowds
and were jostled around. Everyone got separated and naturally felt lost in this
huge, snaking Yatra that stretched for miles. So our team’s first challenge was
to somehow bring everyone together. That meant frantic calls and running
around. In those first few days, my team definitely walked much more than
the daily 25 kilometres. Every single one of us had severely blistered feet,
suffered from dehydration and were physically exhausted.
The other big challenge was arranging for civil society’s overnight
accommodations. Because civil society originally decided that they wouldn’t
take any support from the Congress party for accommodation, they decided to

57
arrange for temporary shelter in primary schools, wedding halls and ashrams.
People willingly opened their doors for people walking in the Yatra (which
they felt was something spiritual and noble). But this arrangement (of not
taking anything from the party) put a lot of pressure on our team. After
walking 25 to 30 kilometres per day, we had to check the places that civil
society leaders had arranged. Sometimes we had to clean those places, provide
a helping hand with elderly yatris’ luggage, arrange for basic toiletries, etc. At
times, we had no choice because we could only arrange mats and blankets for
very senior people to sleep on the floor. We frankly felt mortified that we
could only do that little, so we decided to talk to the Congress leadership to
proactively do something. Thankfully in those early days, we managed with
the support of Mathew Kuzhalnadan (Congress legislator from
Muvattupuzha), Kodikunnal Suresh (Lok Sabha Member of Parliament) and
other Congress leaders who helped civil society make arrangements.
The third challenge we faced was getting civil society yatris to campsites
for meals. This posed distinct challenges, because the security personnel
changed every few kilometres. Consequently, they didn’t recognize us at
different camps, and the Yatra’s leadership would get busy with the afternoon
interactions. We temporarily resolved this by individually taking civil society
yatris into the camps. This often meant that we all skipped lunch because we
had to wait for a couple of hours until all civil society yatris had come in. But
we all impressed upon Digvijaya Singh that we had to make separate passes
that would enable them to enter the camps. Thankfully that problem was
resolved soon after.
Learning from the experiences in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the Congress
party stepped in after Kerala to provide support to our team for civil society.
In Karnataka, senior Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad, Sasikanth Senthil
(former IAS) and Zubair went out of their way to aid us; in Andhra Pradesh,
K. Raju (AICC in-charge for the SC–ST–OBC–Minority departments), K.
Suresh (secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee) and Dr Ravi Nayak
looked after arrangements for civil society; Madhu Yakshi Gaud (former MP)
did so in Telangana; while in Maharashtra, Balasaheb Thorat (Congress
Legislative Party leader in the assembly), Ashok Chavan (former chief
minister) and Mohan Joshi (member of the legislative assembly) looked after
us; Meenakshi Natarajan (former MP) in Madhya Pradesh; Rafiq (MLA) in
Rajasthan; and Parpreet Brar (Mahila Congress vice president) in Punjab
helped our team look after civil society by promptly arranging vehicles, buses
for luggage, accommodation in special camps (titled Camp 2, specially for

58
civil society yatris) or in alternative comfortable areas, which included food,
bathing facilities, mobile toilets and other necessary arrangements. My
burdens were further eased with the joining of Amrit Singh from SBF, who
assisted me until the Telangana stretch of the Yatra.
In Maharashtra, our team had to take on additional responsibility in
helping with the walking and afternoon interactions with Rahul Gandhi. The
Mobile Secretariat from Delhi was allowed to join the Yatra, so they got a
first-hand experience. Unlike previous states, in Maharashtra, we also had to
work closely with senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s team to facilitate
walking interactions with Rahul Gandhi. We designated special spots along
the route, where people would wait with one or two of us, and then walk them
in up to the security cordon around Rahul Gandhi, where Jairam sir’s team
would take them in. Similarly, we had to facilitate the entry of civil society
and community leaders into Camp 1 and the tent where Rahul Gandhi would
interact with them. Maharashtra was a unique experience for all of us. Not
only did we meet hundreds of important personalities from civil society, but
we also learnt many of the state’s problems. This kind of grassroots learning is
important, especially for upcoming leaders.
In Jammu and Kashmir, on the other hand, unique challenges unfolded for
us, because suddenly all mobile networks stopped functioning. We could no
longer coordinate with civil society or the Delhi Secretariat. It was a logistical
nightmare, and we were constantly worried about the civil society yatris under
our care. Plus, the security problems we faced in other states were magnified
manifold in Kashmir. It took repeated interventions by the then AICC general
secretary Rajni Patil to overcome these challenges. We had to also acquire
local SIM cards to re-establish basic communication. We were all wondering
at how ordinary Kashmiris could manage like this, and all of us could see the
stark difference between the Union government’s propaganda about normalcy
in Kashmir and the reality. Plus the constant propaganda spread about
Kashmiris as being pro-Pakistan and anti-India had created suspicions in
many minds. But the enthusiasm and love of the Kashmiri people who came
out in the biting cold and snow to welcome us busted all those myths. They
were there only as Indians, and welcomed all of us as their fellow citizens.

Overall Reflections
Civil society members saw the Bharat Jodo Yatra as an opportunity to
safeguard democracy and India’s constitutional fabric. The Congress party’s

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leadership was respectful and ensured civil society was given dignified space
(especially since, while affiliated with the Yatra, they maintained their distinct
identities and carried their own banners and flags). But the party has its own
logic and concerns, which is why the organizers were busy managing the
Yatra’s media, social media, security, route, rest, food, accommodation,
interactions, the well-being of the yatris and coordination with state units.
SBF complemented this by acting as a bridge between civil society and the
party. In fact, many yatris had a limited understanding of why civil society
was walking in what they saw was a Congress Yatra. I quietly facilitated
conversations and discussions with different Congress yatris. Thanks to these
efforts, gradually Congress yatris began to see civil society as ideological
allies.
The Congress party undoubtedly mobilized its cadre in every state. But
they were only a fraction of the people who turned up from faraway villages
and towns to join the Yatra just out of love for India. Wave after wave of lakhs
of people kept coming in. Some came for a day or two, or a week. Others
stayed longer. Some young adults ran away from their homes to join the Yatra.
And our teams, whether in Delhi or on the ground, had to accommodate every
single person patiently and warmly. I can say with 100 per cent certainty that
those thousands of intellectuals, artists, writers, activists, community leaders,
professionals and individuals from different regions who joined the Yatra
changed their views about the Congress party, largely because of our
collective sincerity and organizational competence. Each one of us also
worked hard for our own individual benefit, because we were so hungry to
learn and connect with all these people. But it also helped the party
tremendously.
Having said that, there were some aspects of civil society that I found
shocking. One group alienated grassroots organizations and people, as they
did not feel comfortable merging their identity with any other organization.
That set of people (of not more than twelve) was also bullying other yatris
into performing menial tasks. Because my team’s job was to create a positive
atmosphere, we tried hard to ease these tensions by interjecting in our own
individual capacities. After a point we had to escalate it to the party
leadership, who asked us to make separate arrangements for an ever-widening
group of civil society yatris. We were told to strictly not interfere, since that
matter was seen as internal to civil society. But the differences and the ensuing
conflicts became unmanageable upon the Yatra’s departure from Rajasthan.
That civil society group abruptly replaced long-standing yatris who had been

60
walking since Kanyakumari with unknown participants. Almost forty to forty-
five civil society yatris were summarily ousted, both from the WhatsApp
group for their coordination and from the Yatra. I found this unfair and
intervened to accommodate these people, even though that put more pressure
on my team.
But that experience showed me the political maturity and sensitivity of the
Congress party. The first impulse of the party leadership and ordinary Bharat
yatris was to make everyone feel welcome in the Yatra. They didn’t care about
which party or organization or movement they belonged to. What mattered
was that they were united in a shared fight for India. And therefore, the
Congress party took everyone along. It is only because of this that no one left
the Yatra. To me, this showed the importance of not becoming party to
conflicts, something the Bharatiya Janata Party repeatedly does. This is why
the Congress party is better suited to governance, because its instinct is to take
everyone along. It is only because of this impulse that the Bharat Jodo Yatra
transformed from a political journey into a people’s movement.
The other important thing is that the Yatra was a moving pathshala (school)
for thousands of Congresspersons. They had to undergo tremendous hurdles—
physical and psychological—to finish the Yatra. We all learnt the importance
of consistency and patience. But even more crucially, we were given a
thorough understanding of the minutest problems in the smallest village from
the southernmost to the northernmost points of India. Could any one of us
have got such political education in so much detail in such a short time? I
think Rahul Gandhi was teaching all of us to discover India, and he now has
an army of highly disciplined karyakartas (workers) behind him. For me as
well, the Yatra marked a new chapter in my life.
Finally, I also feel that the Congress party organization showed its true
strength to the country. To organize a rally or even an election campaign is
difficult, but that is nothing compared to the logistical challenges involved in
organizing the Bharat Jodo Yatra. There are those who desperately pray for a
Congress-mukt Bharat (Congress-free India). To them, the Yatra demonstrated
that the party is well and alive in nearly every block of every district in India.
There are lakhs of committed karyakartas just waiting for some direction. And
they are willing to keep performing miracles for the party. If the Congress
party keeps organizing such programmes periodically, the cadre will remain
motivated and keep attracting more and more new people to the party.
Bharat Jodo brings up many emotions that are difficult to articulate in one
small article. But three things stand out for me—I have newfound respect for

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India’s vast diversities and beauty; I have formed strong friendships that will
last me a lifetime; and I have found boundless strength within myself to take
on any challenge life may throw at me. Because, as I thought to myself at the
Yatra’s culmination at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, ‘Raah muskhil thi, par humne
haar nahi maani; manzil par pahuch kar likhi, apni safalta ki kahani (The
path was difficult, but we did not give up; we reached the destination and
wrote the story of our success).’

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 Reconnecting the Congress: A
Transformative Journey beyond Politics
Sasikanth Senthil

I
n the vibrant and ever-changing landscape of Indian politics, the Congress
party assumes a role that is both historical and significant. Beyond being
merely a political entity, it embodies a mosaic of diverse ideas and aspirations
from millions of people. However, within the vibrant political milieu, a
pivotal question often emerges: To what extent does this party maintain a
profound connection with its core supporters, the civil society and the broader
populace of India, who collectively constitute the backbone of its existence?
This narrative delves into the Congress party’s journey to rediscover and
fortify its ties with the grassroots—the authentic force behind its enduring
legacy.
Enter the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a transformative expedition spanning the vast
stretches of India. This initiative transcended the conventional boundaries of a
political campaign; it epitomized a nuanced endeavour meticulously crafted to
rekindle and commemorate the bond shared between the party’s leadership
and its foundational supporters. Throughout this journey, the party
endeavoured to actively listen to, comprehend and empower its members,
ensuring that their voices not only resonated but also remained integral to the
direction of the party. This narrative provides a glimpse into the Congress
party’s endeavours to remain steadfast to its core values while adapting to the
dynamic demands of its diverse supporters, thereby elucidating the essence of
what enables a political movement to resonate with the people it aspires to
represent.

Reconnecting the Party and Its Core: A Journey beyond

Politics
In the complex world of Indian politics, the Congress party is renowned for its
extensive organizational structure, characterized by a broad base of supporters

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rather than a limited cohort of dedicated members. Nonetheless, questions
occasionally arise concerning the party’s capacity to establish a meaningful
connection with its core members, those individuals who ardently contribute
to its endeavours. It becomes apparent that the focus has been more on the
party’s ideals than on the individuals providing their support. Historically,
ordinary party members faced limited opportunities to engage with their
leaders or participate in events that would invigorate their enthusiasm. This is
where the BJY played a pivotal role, instigating significant changes.
The BJY transcended being merely a journey across India. It constituted a
distinctive initiative with the explicit goal of re-establishing the Congress
party’s bonds with its grassroots members. Rahul Gandhi, cognizant of the
notion that a party’s strength emanates from its dedicated workers and
supporters, made a strategic decision to foster this connection. Throughout the
Yatra, he actively engaged in dialogues with party workers, meticulously
addressing their concerns and imparting inspiration to fortify their
commitment to the party’s cause.
This innovative approach effectively dismantled the erstwhile barriers that
maintained a perceptible distance between the leader and ordinary party
members, concurrently dismantling entrenched power structures. The Bharat
Jodo Yatra facilitated a closer rapport between Rahul Gandhi and the common
people, nurturing a sense of camaraderie and friendship that ultimately
fortified the party’s core. Rooted in a national movement, the Congress party
historically relied on ‘sangharsh’ (struggle) and the structures it erected to
engage with its cadre. Notable instances, such as the Quit India movement in
1942, witnessed thousands of party cadres making substantial sacrifices in
terms of wealth and time. The ethos of self-sacrifice for the collective good
and the nation constituted the traditional means through which the Congress
party connected with its cadre. However, this connection had been
conspicuously absent during the years the party held power, as it shifted its
focus to a ‘nirman’ (construction) mode, precluding the instigation of similar
public movements. The Bharat Jodo Yatra rectified this deficiency by serving
as the conduit through which the Congress worker re-established ties with the
party, notably when its esteemed leader embarked on a mission traversing the
streets of India.

Crystallizing the Hopes of Civil Society

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One of the most remarkable aspects of the BJY was its ability to crystallize
the hopes of civil society through deeply engaging interactions. My
involvement in engaging with the civil society in Karnataka gave me a close-
up view of this phenomenon. As the news of the Yatra was disseminated, it
was the civil society leaders who recognized the transformative potential of
the Yatra. Drawing from their extensive experience in advocating for the most
marginalized, civil society comprehended that a language of humility was the
sole conduit through which resonance with the broader populace could be
achieved.
The civil society in Karnataka had consistently been at the forefront of
significant struggles, such as the abrogation of Article 370 and the National
Register of Citizens (NRC)/Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.
Notably, they had successfully united under a common federal platform
during the NRC/CAA struggle, owing to the concerted efforts of key leaders
and organizations. Karnataka had evolved into a focal point for various
protests against the prevailing authorities.
Amid the lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic, civil society groups
collaborated to evaluate deficiencies in their protest methods. During this
period, they decided to forge closer alliances with several organizations in
Karnataka, amalgamating into a singular entity named ‘Eddelu Karnataka’, or
Wake Up Karnataka. Recognizing the efficacy of collective resistance during
the NRC/CAA protests, organizations such as Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha
and the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti effectively federated themselves.
The planning of the Yatra emerged as a central rallying point for civil
society organizations to mobilize their cadre in preparation for the impending
assembly elections in Karnataka. Numerous meetings were convened and
additional organizations were enlisted to bolster and empower the Bharat Jodo
Yatra. Eminent personalities in Karnataka, including Devanur Mahadeva
(a renowned Dalit writer), Noor Sridhar, Lalitha, Dr Vasu H.V. and Mallige
Sirimane, united to coordinate and galvanize civil society’s support for the
Yatra.
As part of these initiatives, various interactions between civil society
leaders and Rahul Gandhi were meticulously planned throughout his visit. In
conceptualizing civil society interactions in Karnataka, there was a unanimous
decision to incorporate individuals from the grassroots, affording them the
opportunity to engage with Rahul Gandhi. Drawing from prior interactions, it
was evident that Rahul ji derived genuine satisfaction from engaging with
people at the grassroots level. He expressed a profound appreciation for the

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insights of the common person and actively sought to glean knowledge from
these interactions.
A notable example of this occurred in Honnali, a secluded locale within a
reserved forest en route to Chitradurga. The circumstances were far from
ideal, as heavy rain the previous night had rendered the designated tent for the
civil society interaction waterlogged and impracticable. Despite these
challenging conditions, the determination of the organizers persevered.
Arriving at 8 a.m., I had to navigate through slush to reach the tent. The
interaction held particular significance as it had been orchestrated for
exceptional women to engage with Rahul Gandhi.
In this particular interaction, meticulous efforts were made to ensure that
women employed in the unorganized sector had the opportunity to converse
with the leader. This decision was not without its challenges, given the unique
nature of our task. Many women were found working directly at the campsite,
including sanitary workers and civil construction labourers. A dedicated team
was dispatched to the village to assemble Anganwadi workers and teachers.
The ensuing interaction during the Yatra was undeniably memorable.
Rahul Gandhi’s genuine interest in the lives of ordinary people became
palpable. When inquiring about the most significant issues perceived by
working women in the unorganized sector, Savithri Amma candidly
responded, ‘Alcohol, sir.’ Rahul ji delved deeper, questioning, ‘Why alcohol?’
Savithri responded with the utmost honesty, ‘Because our men become very
strong after drinking it, and they start physically abusing us.’
Rahul ji then posed a question that momentarily broke the gravity with
innocent laughter. ‘Why do you allow him to hit you? Have you ever tried to
fight back?’ The room echoed with laughter as Savithri replied. ‘He will do
that to you only when you allow him that privilege.’ Rahul ji’s response was
empowering, affirming that while the Congress party would work to address
the issue of alcohol abuse, it was crucial for women to assert themselves and
take action when necessary. The interaction encapsulated a blend of serious
concerns and shared laughter, underscoring the profound engagement that
transpired during the Yatra.

Bringing the Language of the Congress to the Forefront

The Bharat Jodo Yatra successfully rejuvenated the language and values
intrinsic to the Congress party, effectively bridging the divide between the
party and its ideological foundations. The Congress has historically eschewed

66
reliance on mere rhetoric or charismatic orators, opting instead for
communication through action, particularly by padyatra. Even during the
tumultuous period of Independence marked by communal riots, Congress
leaders, led by Mahatma Gandhi, connected with the populace not through
grandiloquent speeches, but by traversing the villages of Bengal. ‘The Walk’
and fasting constituted Mahatma Gandhi’s preferred instruments of
communication. These walks afforded an intimate, human-sized glimpse into
the lives of the country’s people, facilitating personal connections and an
empathetic understanding of their emotions. The Bharat Jodo Yatra, in this
vein, furnished the leadership with invaluable opportunities to glean insights
into the lives of those along its route.
A noteworthy incident transpired in Bellary, a locale typically associated
with mining issues but also home to a vibrant denim industry. Historically,
Bellary boasted a thriving community of tailors who specialized in crafting
uniforms for British soldiers and officers during the British era. Stitching had
been a prevalent livelihood, even in ordinary households. As the nation
emerged from foreign occupation, the tailors of Bellary transitioned to denim
manufacturing. Consequently, it was decided that Rahul ji would meet the
denim workers to gain first-hand knowledge of the industry. During this
interaction, Rahul Gandhi immersed himself in the intricacies of the denim
industry, displaying a keen interest in understanding its grassroots operations.
In an unanticipated turn, he expressed a desire to visit the houses where the
industry activities were carried out. This impromptu visit to the narrow streets
and houses where the work was ongoing exemplified his commitment to
small-scale industries and his intent to comprehend the challenges faced by
those working in them. Above all, this visit embodied the authentic language
of the Congress.
These interactions underscored that the BJY transcended being a mere
political event. It served as a platform for reigniting the core values and
language of the Congress party. Rahul Gandhi’s genuine interest in
understanding the lives of those he engaged with demonstrated his
commitment to the ideals of inclusivity, secularism and social justice—values
inherently enshrined in the party’s ideology.
In conclusion, the Bharat Jodo Yatra emerged as a transformative
endeavour that not only reconnected the party with its cadre and crystallized
the aspirations of civil society, but also revitalized the language and values
that constitute the essence of the Congress party. Through compelling
anecdotes and experiences from various stops along the Yatra, it becomes

67
evident that the Yatra effectively achieved its objectives, reinforcing the bonds
between the party, its leader and the people of India.

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 A Yatra in India’s Eternal Yatra
Meenakshi Natarajan

T
he evening of 7 September 2022 was extremely memorable for me,
because that is when I reached Kanyakumari for the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Kanyakumari is the confluence of three seas. The inaugural function was
taking place on its sandy shores. As the day progressed, the ocean waves were
shaking the coastline portending what was to come. The roar of the ocean
echoed in our ears. As the waves of the sea were crashing on the rocks
rhythmically, a question kept colliding with the rocks in my mind. I kept
asking myself: What is ‘India’? Who is ‘India’? In one sense, India has a
geographical existence. Several million years ago, due to geological changes,
a part of India collided with Eurasia. This collision gave shape to the
Himalayas. It is the sentinel and symbol of our cultural journey.
Those waves that arose from the ocean also kept knocking on my psyche,
saying that India is not just a geographical entity, but also a confluence of
diverse cultures and countless migratory human groups. The genes of the first
human group that came from Africa about 65,000 years ago are more or less
present in every Indian today. Later, groups came from the grasslands of Iran,
Central Asia and South East Asia, contributing to the rich tapestry of India.
India is the accumulation of thousands of years of experiences, natural
understanding and wisdom. India is an eternal yatra. Like every yatri, holding
on to the past while moving forward. It neither remains lost in the past nor
becomes detached from it. It is nurturing the heritage, advancing towards the
future without being bound by the past. One cannot move forward by looking
backwards. Nor can one escape by hiding from it. This is what a yatra teaches.
With each step, one foot is in the past and the other strides towards the future.
Though I have had many experiences of yatras, here is an attempt to
present the moments spent during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh.
Like the beautiful lines of Bhawani Prasad Mishra’s poetry, the Yatra passed
through the Satpura’s sprawling, untamed green forests and reached
Burhanpur. This is the southern gateway to Madhya Pradesh, showcasing its
role in the central region due to its geographical and cultural diversity.
Burhanpur is a historically significant city that safeguarded northern India’s

69
political power from the political turmoil in the Deccan. It is also where
Mumtaz Mahal breathed her last. Burhanpur is famous for its Ganga–Jamuni
culture.
As the journey progressed through the rural areas of Burhanpur, encounters
with fields and hard-working female and male farmers became more frequent.
Burhanpur excels in banana production, and the shade of the southern fields is
seen here. It’s hard to believe that we are thousands of kilometres away in
Madhya Pradesh, not in Kerala. On one side, there are banana plantations and
on the other are fields of fluffy white cotton.
Burhanpur is home to a power loom operated by the Muslim community.
Women, men and young people from the family run the loom throughout the
day. In the afternoon break of the first day of the Yatra, a delegation of
banana-producing farmers and power-loom operators joined the journey. The
journey was a daily affair. While the other full-time or regional yatris relaxed
and chatted during the rest of the day, Rahul ji met the local people from
specific sectors—especially those whose voices are not heard in the corridors
of power. If a city or a district has particular features or occupations, the
associated communities are approached for discussion. There is an eagerness
to learn from them, express curiosity and exchange ideas. Often, it is observed
that politicians, in their desire to know everything, become oblivious.
Witnessing a humble leader, eager to learn and far from such arrogance, was a
gratifying experience.
The banana-producing farmers shared their difficulties. They explained
how they did not benefit from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (Prime
Minister Crop Insurance Scheme). The ICAR-National Research Centre for
Banana announcement has not been fulfilled. The UPA government had
provided a 50 per cent discount on banana plantations. It has now been
discontinued. Due to the unavailability of railway tracks, there are difficulties
in transporting the produce.
Similarly, power-loom operators expressed their dilemmas. They spoke
about the difficulty in obtaining a loan from the bank. Some regions offer
concessions in electricity rates, while others do not. Previously, weavers were
given a 30 per cent concession for technological improvements, but it has now
been reduced to 10 per cent. The power-loom industry is placed under the
category of small-scale industries. So they rightly felt they should receive the
same facilities that entrepreneurs in that category were entitled to. After all,
small power-loom workers can only compete with large entrepreneurs with

70
State support. This discussion provided a deep insight into the lives of power-
loom workers.
Long before the arrival of the journey in Madhya Pradesh, various social
organizations, democratic groups and progressive writers held a meeting at
Gandhi Bhawan in Bhopal. Thinkers, writers, artists and literary figures all
participated. Yogendra Yadav organized the social organizations. Ekta
Parishad participated in the entire yatra in Madhya Pradesh with P.V.
Rajagopal ji. They walked in an organized manner, singing protest songs.
Kabir Panthi and folk artists all joined in.
The Yatra continued to progress. It passed through the Khandwa and
Khargone districts from Burhanpur. It seemed like we were reaching the Motli
Mai region. The innocent folk society of Nimar refers to the Narmada river as
Motli Mai. Unlike the rivers that originate from the Himalayas, the Narmada
does not receive water from glaciers—it relies on rainfall. The jungle is its
source. The Narmada is older than the Ganga and the Yamuna. Although it
hosts fairs along its banks and people take baths in it, it is unique. The local
community circumambulates the Narmada. This means taking a journey on
foot from the origin to the final destination without crossing the river. Tribal
communities predominantly inhabit the villages along the banks of the
Narmada. Bhil, Bhilala, Gond, Baiga, Kol, Koraku and other tribal
communities reside there. The circumambulation of the Narmada signifies a
pilgrimage through the life perspective of this tribal community. It involves
experiencing interdependence with nature, and understanding and adapting to
it. The Bharat Jodo Yatra felt these subtle ecological waves as it reached the
Narmada. The journey reached the next phase with the sight of the Narmada,
and in the vicinity there was a statue of Tantya Bhil, who sacrificed his life
fighting against British colonialism.
An Adivasi public meeting was organized at the memorial site. The BJP
government in the state had announced the ‘PESA’ (Panchayats Extension to
Scheduled Areas) rules to grant rights under the law.1 The reality behind the
shiny propaganda became apparent when the rules were published. The
purpose of this law was to provide legal recognition to the traditional
collective rights of the Adivasi, make the community a participant in forest
and natural resource management, and empower the gram sabha with
maximum authority in natural resource management. It also included the
selection of beneficiaries in forest produce management and forest rights.
The state government created a commotion under the guise of rules.
According to the new regulations, the gram sabha would have only the rights

71
granted under the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Raj Avam Gram Swaraj
Adhiniyam of 1993. In other words, they would not have the traditionally
recognized community rights as indicated in the PESA Act of 1996. However,
in the state, it has confined itself only to the limits of the panchayat. It remains
silent on rules related to forest rights and forest produce collection. The new
rules have reduced the gram sabha to a mere implementing agency. Adivasi
leaders spoke about all these issues in the jan sabha.
Those who came together included those affected by the privatization of
forests, the interference of big corporates, deforestation and exploitation due
to diamond mining in Buxwaha, the displacement of the Sahariya tribes for
the sake of cheetahs coming from South Africa to the Kuno National Park in
Sheopur, the displacement of villagers affected by big dams and the increase
in their height. Displaced villagers, such as those from Mandla and Jabalpur,
will be affected due to the Chutka Nuclear Power Project. A whole afternoon
was spent discussing displacement. Displaced tribal communities shared their
pain, highlighting how justice is never served to them despite so-called
development. They don’t benefit from electricity, roads or irrigation. Instead,
their sacrifices, their livelihood, everything is taken away. They are distanced
from their own forests. They cannot catch fish from their own ponds and
rivers. The displacement of the community leads to a loss of habitat, their
language becomes endangered and an entire civilization is destroyed. When
no habitat is left, the Fifth Schedule provisions become irrelevant. Neither
PESA nor forest rights has any meaning. The Narmada Bachao Andolan and
other people’s organizations also participated in this discussion. They were
also part of the journey. Medha Patkar, Rajkumar Sinha and other activists
joined. A serious discussion took place that afternoon. Tribal folk music and
dances were also performed during this liberated cultural event, resonating
with the echoes of ‘Abua Raj (Our Rule)’.
The next destination of the Yatra was near Maheshwar Nagar. Maheshwar,
the capital of Queen Ahilyabai Holkar, has a royal seat, a temple and a ghat on
the Narmada river. The weaving of handlooms has been practised here since
the sixth and seventh centuries. Beautiful cotton and silk sarees are prepared
on the handloom. These sarees are known as Maheshwari sarees. The weavers
had come to meet Rahul ji at this stop. Weavers need to preserve their
traditional skills. They also have to face the challenges of today’s
circumstances. While they might withstand the competition from machine-
made fabrics, dealing with the complexities of government policies is difficult
for them. They have skill in their fingers, which is a constant sign of working

72
on the loom. The weavers’ delegation presented a woven saree to Rahul ji,
created with finesse and love.
The sunwai (consultations) of big industrialists takes place easily, but no
one listens to the weavers. On that very afternoon, small and medium local
entrepreneurs from the industrial area near Pithampur, close to Indore, also
came to meet. While the government organizes big industrial conferences to
boost entrepreneurship, there is no attention to formulating a productivity
policy. The harsh rules of GST are holding back small-scale entrepreneurship.
Demonetization hit small traders and entrepreneurs hard. Then, during the
lockdown, when big corporate houses were earning profits per hour, the
stamina of small entrepreneurs drained. No effort was made to protect them.
The economic disparity cannot be bridged by industries that are entirely
capital-based. Employment-intensive production units are needed for the
uplift of ‘employment-centric development’. Otherwise, we will move away
from the latter. The creation of small enterprises can be linked to agriculture
and other products of rural India. Several fundamental suggestions emerged in
this regard.
The journey continued. The next destination was Mhow, the birthplace of
the architect of the Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar. On the way, a youth
employment council was under way, and the companions joined the journey.
In the evening, a social justice meeting took place. Paying homage to the
memories of Dr Ambedkar, the discussion revolved around how justice could
be delivered to the marginalized communities standing on the sidelines in the
new century. In an era where government jobs are diminishing, the contract
system has taken place. Where there is no commitment, the contractors are not
obligated to labour rights, nor does the constitutionally provided social justice
and equality have any control over them. Dalit writers, thinkers and social
activists participated in this discussion.
The next day, a small meeting was held in Rajwada, Indore. In recent
years, the citizens of Indore have felt great pride in being continuously
honoured for cleanliness. Rarely does someone talk to the sanitation workers
who contribute to this cleanliness. The meeting started with their felicitation.
Father Varghese of the Universal Solidarity Movement also joined the Yatra.
He continues to prepare schoolchildren for nation-building according to the
Constitution. He has been unwell in recent days. When he joined the Yatra, it
was said to him that he should meet Rahul ji. He said that his prayers and
feelings had reached Rahul ji with every step—meeting face to face was not

73
necessary. Indeed, such a journey is not physical. Do these feet propel these
journeys? Or is it courage and shared self-esteem?
Then the Yatra transcended time and age, reaching the land of Mahakal,
Ujjain. There was also a day of rest. In a large public meeting, Rahul ji,
emphasizing his accumulated experiences in the journey and natural wisdom,
said this is a land of ascetics. Rama, Nanak, Gautama, Mahavira, Krishna,
Kabir and Gandhi were all ascetics, as are those engaged in hard physical
labour. In that sense, farmers, pastoralist societies, indigenous people, women,
artisans, weavers, labourers, skilled youth, sanitation workers and
entrepreneurs all practise asceticism. Even walking is a form of tapasya. With
every step we take on the road, we descend inwards.
When the Yatra commenced from Ujjain, it had a different flavour. Rahul ji
decided that he would spend an entire day exclusively in dialogue with
women in every state. Every day during the journey, he conversed with
writers, journalists, university professors, athletes, democratic activists and
party workers. It wasn’t easy to keep pace with his energy. An unwavering
enthusiasm propelled him forward. Many times, the conversations were so
intriguing that we didn’t even realize when we had reached the Yatra’s
destination. But the discussions were yet to conclude.
In the same sequence, it was decided to engage in dialogue with women
throughout the day. The sisters of a self-help group arrived promptly at 5.30
a.m. Women were standing on both sides of the road. Even young children
waved their hands, breaking through the crowd to enter. Their innocent
questions and comments relieved the fatigue of the day. It had been long since
a leader of feminist sentiments and camaraderie had been found with whom
women could share their pain so effortlessly. Bapu was rich in such feminist
empathy. His equality could not be matched. But Rahul ji exhibited the same
ease, humility, compassion and feminist perspective as Bapu. Otherwise, can
such a pure, natural and compassionate dialogue be possible in a patriarchal
society? He heard with great compassion the troubles of managing households
due to domestic quarrels, violence and inflation. He stopped for tea at 5 p.m.
and openly discussed his childhood and school days. It did not feel like
meeting any leader. It felt like it was an informal conversation with a very
close friend.
Representatives of various communities from the backward classes
participated in the afternoon discussion. Representatives elected from the
blacksmith, carpenter, potter, boatman, weaver, oil presser and farmer
communities were present. People from the nomadic tribal Banjara

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community were also present. From there, the discussion started to take shape
for a caste-based census. The working class of the backward communities is
being affected by land acquisition. Their industries and work are not getting
encouragement. Ensuring representation to eliminate centuries of
backwardness and inequality is crucial. In the era of privatization and
commercialization, traditional professions are fading away. The dominance of
the prosperous class is visible in every field. In such a situation, the
marginalized community’s voice is nowhere on the periphery. It is neither in
policy formulation, nor in the judicial system.
Panchayat representatives said that new groups had been given political
opportunities. But the flow of power transfer had come to a standstill. Without
the transfer of power, creating new alternative politics, and social and
economic conditions was impossible. Rajiv Gandhi ji had said in his lifetime
that this was at least a one-generation task. Today, when centralization is
happening unabated, initiating power transfer is a challenging task. As the
journey progressed, physically disabled youth met Rahul ji. Many companions
had travelled a considerable distance. It was inspiring to see how these youths,
facing physical challenges, were so motivated.
We were reaching the last leg of the Yatra in Madhya Pradesh. Farmers
joined us for a conversation. Discussions were held on the shortcomings of the
crop insurance scheme, not getting fair prices, faulty policies on non-seasonal
farming and the integration of agricultural products with industries. In the
bordering villages of Madhya Pradesh, an elderly activist welcomed us by
raising a flag. Suddenly, the heartbeats calmed down. The journey paid
homage to him. After ending the journey of this world, he embarked towards
an eternal journey.
It was time to bid farewell to Madhya Pradesh. I didn’t realize how so
many days had passed so quickly. In Madhya Pradesh there was a treasure
trove of shared experiences and the unshakable love of tribals, women, labour
groups, children, elders, social and political activists, and sanitation workers.
But like a river, the Yatra flowed on. As we progressed, another group of
yatris from Rajasthan joined us, like a tributary merges into a great river.

1 ‘Madhya Pradesh Notifies PESA Rules on the Occasion of Janjatiya

Gaurav Divas’, Press Information Bureau, 17 November 2022,
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1876869

75
SECTION II

76
 Meditations on Gandhi, Indianness and
Politics
Dr Anshul Trivedi

I
n the Indian tradition, a yatra—loosely translated to a journey or pilgrimage
—has immense social and spiritual value. Most of our ancient holy sites are
located atop remote mountains, because it is believed that only by embracing
solitude and suffering can a person transcend the everyday life, which is
dictated by the need to address immediate concerns. Therefore, it is not a
coincidence that all the great prophets of India were yatris—whether it was
Gautam Buddha, Guru Nanak or Shankaracharya. And yatras were central to
their life stories.
Mahatma Gandhi’s first major political act upon his return to India was to
journey through the entire nation like a commoner. This experience
transformed him, but, more importantly, it transformed the Congress party
from a debating club of the elite to an organization capable of launching
sustained campaigns of non-violent mass action that eventually led to the
liquidation of the British Empire. A yatra provides two very important things.
For the spiritual seeker, it provides the time and space to reflect, meditate and
see the bigger picture, thereby revealing simple yet profound truths that would
otherwise evade them; for the political actor, it helps them connect with the
common masses and develop an experience-based critique of the ruling
sociopolitical orthodoxies of their time.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra provided me with the time to reflect upon politics
and life. The opportunity to meet thousands of people across the length of the
country and experience their cultures enriched my understanding of India,
Indianness and the Congress.

The ‘Difficulty’ of Being Indian

I distinctly remember that on the eve of the Yatra, I was full of excitement and
very aware that something historic and audacious was being attempted. My
only worry was whether the people were going to come out in support of the

77
Yatra. However, all that changed within a few days. My fears were
unfounded; the people were coming out in huge numbers to support us.
However, now the lofty fear had been replaced by a banal but deep discomfort
with the food being served in Kerala. It was not as if the quality of the food
was bad, but the dishes and their preparation did not suit my palate. One of the
most interesting things about Kerala was the ubiquitous fruit and juice shops
that dotted our route. I used to have a lot of fruits and juices while walking,
but they could not compensate for the food being served.
After walking around 25 kilometres in the heat, I used to be famished and
mechanically ate whatever vegetarian food was on offer. To be honest, it did
not taste all that good. There was no dal-roti, which could comfort me
psychologically. Therefore, I ate little during the Kerala leg, or, in fact,
throughout the southern leg of the Yatra and as a result lost a few kilos as
well. I still remember the first time I got dal-roti-sabzi in Maharashtra—it was
a mixture of relief and happiness. It was the first time I felt full on the Yatra.
As a resident of Madhya Pradesh, I always lacked a sense of cultural
belonging, because my state is an ensemble of different cultures. However,
this discomfort made me aware of my deep entrenchment within north Indian
culture. It also made me think about how my fellow yatris from the south
would now feel for the remainder of the route when we moved towards the
north.
It made me realize that it is not easy to be an Indian because one needs to
cultivate a high degree of empathy and tolerance for difference to become
truly Indian. To be able to respect differences, perhaps more than any other
nation in the world, is a necessary condition for being an Indian citizen. The
degree of diversity that an Indian is expected to respect is unprecedented
when compared to any other nation. And while at the level of ideas, it is easy
to mechanically repeat the slogan of ‘unity in diversity’, it is very difficult to
practise it in real life.
My own ‘otherness’ in the south made me think about the marginalization
of other cultures, especially those from the North-East. My experiential
knowledge about that region was very limited, despite spending a good part of
a decade in a truly multicultural university such as the Jawaharlal Nehru
University. I was more acquainted with the American and Chinese cuisines
rather than the cuisines of our North-East. In my view, this lack of cultural
familiarity with our North-Eastern people is the fundamental reason for the
continued racism and violence that they face in parts of Delhi and other states.

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 These differences are not artificial, but deep-rooted and organic in nature
and, therefore, as Indians we must train ourselves to be more open, dialogic
and empathetic towards our fellow citizens. Because the possibility of
practising the politics of division will always be easier, given our diversity.

Two Lessons on Gandhi

There are two deeply transformative episodes during the Yatra that
dramatically altered my views on poverty and religion, respectively. They
helped me understand much more clearly the hiatus between the limits of
theory in the face of the complexities of praxis. But more importantly, they
reaffirmed the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in our times.
Apart from the food, the first three weeks were the toughest on the body. I
was not trained to walk around 25 kilometres every day, and by the time I
returned to the camp, I was exhausted. I could cope with the fatigue, but the
bigger problem was the sores and blisters on my feet. Those made life tough. I
could barely take a step without pain. But because this was a common
problem among all the yatris, we were all drawing strength from each other
and soldiering on.
However, whenever I used to nurse my blisters during break time, pictures
of the Adivasi peasants who marched barefoot from Nashik to Mumbai
flashed in my mind. The difficulty in carrying on walking with blisters made
me wonder about the difficulties that the migrant labourers and poor people of
our country would have faced when they were forced to walk back to their
villages during the time of the Covid-19 lockdown. The uncertainties and
challenges that they faced during that time would have been incomparably
harder than what I was facing. I had food, medical attention and a bed at my
disposal. My pain and problems felt petty when compared to theirs.
Interestingly, one of our fellow yatris, Sachin Rao, decided to do the entire
Yatra barefoot. I met him and said that I was having trouble with blisters. He
smiled and told me the best way to deal with it was to walk barefoot like him.
I tried it for a little while but could not do it. It was acutely discomforting. In
fact, out of my concern for him, I asked him to discontinue his experiment and
put on shoes. He showed me a pair of sandals in his bag and assured me that
he would wear them when he felt he could no longer continue. It became a
sort of a ritual for me—whenever I bumped into him, I would politely ask him
to start wearing shoes and he would find ways to dodge my plea.

79
 This ritual went on for months, and then one day during our breakfast in
Ramban near Kashmir, I saw him wearing shoes for the first time; and I
celebrated in front of him. This was the first time that he turned serious and
said, ‘Don’t do this.’ Then he pointed to a poor old man who had somehow
made his way into the camp, and said, ‘Look, he isn’t wearing any shoes
either!’
‘The idea is not to give up wearing shoes, but to ensure that he gets shoes
as well!’ I protested as we left for the march.
This exchange stayed with me. I kept thinking whether I had been correct
in my argument. I still think I was correct, but that is not the point. While
thinking about the incident, it struck me that I had not noticed the old man’s
feet. I realized how desensitized I had become to poverty over time. One
cannot be blamed for it either, because becoming desensitized to the hardships
that ordinary Indians faced is a coping mechanism that I had developed.
However, more importantly, it occurred to me that the question of poverty
itself had been invisibilized in the public discourse—it is no longer
fashionable within the academia, we do not address it through our media, and
our everyday interactions also seem oblivious to the glaring poverty and
powerlessness of our fellow Indians. We are more fixated on achieving the
‘superpower’ status or the imagined glory of being a ‘Vishwaguru’.
It is a sign of our times that now the term ‘gareebi (poverty)’ has lost
political currency. It has been replaced by new categories such as ‘aam
aadmi’. This, despite the fact that a huge section of our people are
impoverished. This episode revealed the enduring truth and relevance of
Gandhi ji’s famous talisman. When I think of the common man now, I try and
picture that man and many more like him. The Yatra thus re-sensitized me to
the pressing question of poverty in our nation.
The second lesson was on the role of religion in society and politics. Given
the hatred and violence that had been perpetrated in the name of religion in
the past ten years, I had started to develop an aversion to religion. However, I
experienced religion differently on the Yatra, which made me believe that
religiosity is not undesirable as long as it is rooted in empathy, compassion
and love. What we were witnessing was the cynical use of religion to divide
and rule. However, it could also be used to unite and serve. That was also
Gandhi ji’s idea.
Throughout the Yatra, we were welcomed into the premises of religious
places—whether they were temples, mosques, churches or gurudwaras.
Moreover, there were many religious people and even priests of different

80
religions who participated in the Yatra. However, their participation only
enriched our campaign. It did not lead to any hatred, which has unfortunately
become commonplace within our sociopolitical culture these days. One
experience in particular forced me to re-evaluate my stance on this issue.
Every day we used to get up at the crack of dawn and start off at six in the
morning, come sun, rain or snow. This disturbed the morning routine of most
people. One of them was Digvijaya Singh, who was in charge of organizing
the entire Yatra. He has a public image of a staunch secularist. The right wing
even paints him as ‘anti-Hindu’. However, the Yatra showed me a side of his
personality that is completely hidden from the public.
During our daily morning stop, Digvijaya Singh would spread out a
mattress in the farthest corner of our tent to do yoga and would then quietly
pray. Once the prayers were over, he would give a piece of mishri (a sweet
condiment) as prasad (blessing) to whoever was nearby. Then he would wrap
everything up and get back to work. He unfailingly did this every single day
of the Yatra. The sincerity of the ritual was powerful. It was totally silent and
he did not involve anyone in it, nor did he ever talk about it. The public nature
of the ritual, which was otherwise performed privately, was also forced due to
the punishing schedule of the Yatra.
Ironically, the man who has been branded ‘anti-Hindu’ by the right wing is
a staunch believer and practitioner of the faith. However, the important
difference is that his faith is not an instrument of political mobilization—it is
an intensely personal pursuit. This sincere expression of faith stood in sharp
contrast to what is passed off as ‘Hinduness’ today, which is merely an
ideological exhortation to majoritarianism and Hindu supremacy. This
supremacy must be fought, but, more importantly, we must also strive to
rescue the Hindu faith from being devoured by this ideological project.
In a deeply religious society, religion will always be a powerful force. We
must attempt to popularize its humane aspects. Secularism today has
somehow come to be identified with irreligiosity or, worse, a mindless elitist
critique of the faith of common people. However, we must repopularize the
Indian idea of secularism, which stands for equal respect for all religions, or
sarva dharma sambhava.
These episodes also made me re-evaluate the relevance of the Gandhian
ethos. I use the word ‘ethos’ because Gandhi ji was not an ideologue or a
theorist. He was a practitioner constantly in an effort to improve himself
ethically and morally. The Gandhian ethos, then, was an invitation to
authentically pursue moral and political ideals. It demanded an emotional

81
investment in politics so that one could live out the values that one espoused
rather than just intellectually propagate them. Hence, it was more important to
‘feel’ rather than merely ‘think’ about poverty and God.
These, along with a few other experiences, helped deepen my
understanding of politics and the Congress.

Is Politics Worth It?

About a month into the Yatra, I began to miss my family. The routine of the
campaign was getting to me. Despite the fact that we were surrounded by
people and fellow yatris throughout the day, I felt intensely lonely at times.
On the face of it, I had made scores of new ‘friends’, but still the loneliness
would not go away.
Moreover, given the ‘big tent’ character of the Congress, you got to meet
people with diverse motivations and value systems. In fact, it is only within
the Congress ecosystem that you could run into a dedicated Congressperson
with whom you would have almost nothing in common. So most of the
exchanges were restricted to small talk. It is not an exaggeration to say that
there were entire days on which all I had done was walk and make small talk.
Moreover, there seemed to be a culture of scoffing at serious conversations.
This disheartened me, as this was my first sustained interaction with Congress
functionaries within my age bracket.
I used to come back to my container and think whether this was what a life
in politics was like. Would most of my life be spent making small talk with
people? Was this my life in a snapshot? Would it not be better to devote this
time to family and some other endeavours that would lead to more fulfilment?
However, that perception changed over the next few weeks when Meenakshi
Natarajan organized interactions with leaders in different states. I conducted
an interaction with Dansari Seethakka, an MLA from Telangana who in the
past had been an active Naxal cadre. It was fascinating to learn about her
journey from an armed insurrectionist to a democratically elected
representative. Similarly, in Rajasthan we got to briefly interact with the
former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, who tried to
explain complex phenomena in a simple way to some of us who had managed
to set up an impromptu interaction with him.
These interactions made me realize that there were people who were
deeply invested in moral, intellectual and ideological aspects of politics in the
Congress as well. In fact, the malaise of small talk, I realized with time, was

82
not restricted to this party alone, but a feature of all mainstream politics. This
was because most mainstream politics is driven not by the quest for some
ideal, but by the ruthless pursuit of power and instinct for self-preservation.
The realm of power inevitably gives rise to relationships based on shared
interests that lack depth, while the realm of ideas enables one to forge
meaningful relationships based on shared values and utopias.
However, while there were people at all levels who were engaged in
serious ideological work, they coexisted with those who did not share their
convictions. It was the choice of the individual as to which path they would
take. I decided that politics was only worth taking up if it was anchored within
some ideological, intellectual and moral project. Otherwise, it was just time
spent away from people who actually loved you in the hope of getting the
fickle affection of strangers. The Yatra helped me gain clarity about what kind
of politics I would pursue, and why.

Fighting for Bandhutva

Politics without ideology is nothing but a gang war. A formation that does not
fight for any ideas or values but only competes for power is not a political
party but a mafia. The Bharat Jodo Yatra helped forge a new ideological
consensus to respond to the politics of social and economic polarization built
on the pretext of establishing a Hindu nation. It provided an alternative vision
of the nation and a vocabulary of nationalism. We need to draw upon our
history and rebuild the nation with the idea of Bandhutva, or fraternity, rather
than Hindutva.
In retrospect, it is clear that the Yatra was stupendously successful in
transforming the political discourse of the country. When we were about to
embark on this journey, the political climate was characterized by
hopelessness for the Opposition. There were cocky assertions of ‘New India’
being brought to life with the support of corporate capital, and unending
religious hatred and subversion of elected governments through the misuse of
institutions. The Yatra did not only provide an ideological counter, but through
its successful completion, demonstrated that the idea of India that our
founders had was not only alive, but still had enormous appeal among the
common masses of our country. It was nurtured by a political force that was
willing to fight for it. And lastly, it had a leader in Rahul Gandhi, who was
willing to take unwavering moral and ideological positions to defend
that idea.

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 It is said that Vietnam won the war against the United States of America
despite being no match for them technologically and financially because it had
something much more valuable than bombs and money—it had something to
fight for. The Bharat Jodo Yatra gave millions of Indians exactly that—an idea
of India that is worth fighting for.

84
 Tapasya
Chandy Oommen

I
n August 1947, two nations, India and Pakistan, were born at the same time.
By any stretch of the imagination, of the two, Pakistan would have been
considered the easier nation to be governed, considering its smaller size and
homogenous nature. As many scholars then opined, India was a land of
contradictions and diversities of the extreme kinds. Some Indians found
themselves to be more ethnically and culturally similar to people from other
countries. Some geographical terrains in our country look more similar to the
geographical terrains of other countries than to other parts of India itself. It
was therefore understandable that, at the time, some felt India would be
impossible to govern, especially through a parliamentary democracy.
Despite this, even in the middle of all these diversities and contradictions,
India united as a nation. What made this possible was that India was built on
the foundations of brotherhood, secularism and, above all, respect for fellow
citizens, irrespective of their background. This may be scoffed at or taken
lightly today, but this idea has held our nation together like glue since 1947.
It is because we emphasize fraternity that all our governments listen to us,
the people. After all, a democracy is a government of the people, by the
people and for the people. In other words, in a democracy, one cannot proceed
without taking people into confidence. Only that can deliver good governance
and only through that can a nation prosper. It is with a steadfast belief in this
that India’s founders and the architects of modern India have led India to great
heights since Independence.
Yet, that consensus has now unravelled totally. The BJP has been
propounding the notion that 2014 was the year that India gained
independence. And in many ways, the BJP has totally broken away from the
painstakingly established consensus that successive governments built on
from 1947 to 2014. It has abdicated its responsibilities to deliver on an
inclusive social contract, responsive governance and adherence to the
constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice. Since 2014,
things that were once unimaginable in our beloved India have become
frequent occurrences. For instance, after one of the losses of the Indian cricket

85
team, cricketer Mohammed Shami was referred to as a traitor and anti-
nationalist, and was asked to go to Pakistan by right-wing extremists on social
media. When the then Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli came out in
support of Mohammed Shami, even he and his wife Anushka Sharma were
mercilessly attacked online. Similarly, right-wing extremists initiated a cyber
attack against prominent actress Deepika Padukone because one of the attires
she wore in a song sequence in one of her films was in the saffron colour. This
was alleged to have been done deliberately to hurt religious sentiments.
Instances such as these prove that the BJP has murdered our national soul.
Since 2014, any failure of the BJP government has been attempted to be
covered up by an unrelated controversy or atrocity or distraction. This has
been compounded a hundred-fold because of the complex crises that the
Indian National Congress is suffering. It is creating grave problems for the
nation. For years, Rahul Gandhi has been trying to correct the internal
problems of the Congress in vain. He experimented with elections in the
student and youth wings of the party, then primary elections to determine who
the best candidate would be for elections. But for various reasons, things
reached a stage where unless something revolutionary was done immediately,
the damage to the Congress party (and consequently) our nation would have
been beyond repair.
It is faced with these twin challenges that Rahul Gandhi decided to do the
twelve-state Bharat Jodo Yatra, spanning a distance of more than 4,000
kilometres in over 150 days. Even though the Yatra was planned as well as it
could have been, no one could have been sure of how successful it would be
until D-day arrived. On the very first day of the Yatra, it was clear to everyone
that it was going to achieve more than just unite India. People from all walks
of life joined the Yatra as if they were just waiting for something like this to
happen. The overwhelming participation of people in the Yatra also reflected
the extent of their disapproval of the BJP government. Unlike Prime Minister
Modi, Rahul Gandhi listened to what they had to say, and became one of
them. The political utility to the Congress party cannot be denied, as it was
something every single colleague was discussing. The enthusiasm was
palpable, because after years of lethargy and losses, we all felt the Yatra could
rejuvenate the party.

The Personal

86
By the time I was in a position to apply to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra, I had
heard so much about it that I had no reason to think twice about being part of
it. I felt that it was my duty to express solidarity and be part of this noble
quest. I did have concerns about whether I had the physical endurance to
actually do it—walking 4,000 kilometres is no joke! However, the response
that the Yatra received on its very first day was so overwhelming that my
doubts melted away.
Strangely, walking in shoes made me very uncomfortable. Sachin Rao, a
party colleague, advised that I would feel better if I walked barefoot.
However, I was too sceptical to pay heed at that time. But as the Yatra
progressed, I faced two major problems. First, I began to develop blisters on
my feet. Secondly, I felt completely drained by the evenings. So with
considerable hesitation and even more trepidation, I decided to walk barefoot
during the afternoon stretch of the Yatra at Kollam. I walked barefoot from
Chathannoor to Kollam, and the results were amazing. I felt that my energy
levels had increased and I was able to walk faster. The blisters on my feet
began to disappear. Over the next few weeks, I developed such strength that I
could walk in any terrain and climate. So whether it was sunny or raining or
even snowing (like how it was when we reached Jammu and Kashmir), I
walked barefoot. As the Yatra progressed, I realized that millions of Indians
were also walking around us without any footwear. It’s so strange that our
privilege made us blind to their plight. I’m sure we all notice these things, but
until it pricks us, it doesn’t compel us to do anything about it. And that got me
thinking of all those vulnerable and downtrodden people we see every day but
ignore because our social media accounts are abuzz with how India will soon
be a 5-trillion-dollar economy or how Amrit Kaal has arrived. It’s so easy to
become distracted by the irrelevant that we lose sense of our own humanity.
The Yatra gave me the opportunity to confront my own blindness and
experience first-hand the plight of the poor, the downtrodden, the Adivasi, the
Dalits, the members of the minority communities, women and every other
section of society that needs care and protection.
The Yatra also gave me a wonderful opportunity to interact with Rahul
Gandhi and get to know him better. The topics we discussed ranged from
spirituality, diet, history, international politics and health. I was amazed by the
scale and depth of his knowledge on each of these matters. But I also saw a
deeply sensitive side to him. There was a time during the Yatra when my
father’s health deteriorated. When Rahul Gandhi heard about it, he took the
initiative to arrange for his treatment in Germany. He also allowed me ten

87
days’ leave from the Yatra to ensure that I was able to travel with my father.
Since then and until the time my father passed away, he (along with the
party’s general secretary K.C. Venugopal) constantly enquired after my father
and went out of his way to ensure we had all the help we needed. As a son, I
can never forget what he did for my father, and I will always remain indebted
and grateful to him. I have read that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee acknowledged former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s role in saving
his life by arranging for his kidney treatment in the United States by making
him a member of the Indian delegation to the United Nations in 1988. I felt
something similar towards Rahul Gandhi. The manner in which he took
special care of my family and me while he was in the middle of the gruelling
Yatra made me realize that he was no different from his father.
I also had the chance to reflect on my own prejudices about people within
the party. For example, I was astounded that Digvijaya Singh (a former chief
minister) would often be sleeping on the floor with just a gamcha (thin towel)
to cover him. In stark contrast to how badly he has been caricatured in the
media, he was humble and amiable, always ready to lend a hand or a patient
ear. Similarly, even though a few yatris would jump into cars after only a
couple of hours, I found that a majority of my fellow yatris were determined.
Similarly, even though some yatris were not very friendly and would quarrel
over the pettiest things, an overwhelming majority was kind, generous and
friendly. I made some wonderful friends from all across India. Conversations
with them made me appreciate how diverse we were as a nation and the
challenges each state faced. But also that deep down, we all shared the same
fears and had the same aspirations. Once we began to see that, all of us saw
each other as close friends.
I recall that I was engrossed in explaining something about Kerala to
Pushparaj once, who was then walking alongside me. We both came across a
young Bharat yatri from Maharashtra, who was badly injured and crying. She
was too shy (and I suspect a little too proud) to accept anyone’s help. But
Pushparaj convinced her to let us (lying about how bored we were so we
could do with her company); so we helped her walk the last 2 kilometres to
the resting area and to medical care. Those 2 kilometres were very difficult
because she was putting her whole weight on us, so we were forced to stop for
some lemon water at a wayside restaurant, where the Muslim owners refused
to accept payment from either of us! But even though her foot wasn’t healed,
she was certainly much more buoyant and spirited. I guess she realized she
wasn’t alone any more. And till date, she keeps in touch. A testament to such

88
bonds we forged was that some of my fellow yatris came from very remote
corners of India to Kerala just to campaign for me in Puthupally, my
constituency. I hope one day I, too, can repay the favour to each of them.

Overall Impact
The timing of Bharat Jodo cannot be overemphasized. When hate was killing
all happiness, the Yatra gave us a ray of hope. It gave ordinary Indians a
chance to do something for the nation they loved. They opened their hearts
and hearths for us. In Kerala, the Yatra was met with such extraordinary
fervour and enthusiasm that it created a sense of insecurity in the ruling party,
which was taken aback by how many youngsters organically joined the Yatra.
I think the response in Kerala was so overwhelming because the message of
the Yatra is a practice deeply embedded in the state’s DNA. I think this
message of love and fraternity from Bharat Jodo resonated with the masses
across the twelve states we walked.
And the Yatra also forced us inside the Congress party to confront our style
of working. My father had constantly spurned arm-chair and office politics,
and encouraged me to be with the people. But many in the Congress party had
got so used to going to Delhi and state capitals or getting attached to leaders to
rise in politics that they had forgotten that politics was about the people. But
the Yatra turned out to be a blessing for the Congress party. It made each of us
engage deeply with our fellow Indians. It made us learn not just how to
engage with the masses but also how to be compassionate towards them.
I don’t want to paint a rosy picture and say everything in the Yatra was
perfect. Many Congresspersons came just to get their or their family’s photos
clicked with Rahul Gandhi. Some shunned the struggle of the walk. Others
would not connect with people outside the Yatra. Some would form bands and
stick to the petty politics that every party must grapple with internally. But
many yatris were doing a tapasya (austere practice) by following the example
of our leader Rahul Gandhi. In fact, I know many worked for months on end,
but avoided self-publicity or praise on purpose. Many organizers were
working tirelessly to throw open doors for patriotic outsiders who wanted to
support the Congress party. Surprisingly, some non-Congress people from
civil society who did join the Yatra lost no opportunity to promote themselves.
It became a running joke internally that they were even upstaging Jairam
Ramesh, the Congress party’s official chief spokesperson (who had legitimate
reason to be talking about the Yatra). That made us all realize that no matter

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what the BJP said, the Congress was full of patriots driven by public service
and idealism.
I believe that the Bharat Jodo Yatra has opened up an alternative path for
the Indian National Congress. Unknowingly, it has galvanized the spirits of
every worker of the Indian National Congress to work harder than ever before.
I can only hope that the party leadership will take care of the aspirations of the
yatris and Yatra organizers.
It has also positioned the Congress in contradistinction to the hyper-
pseudo-nationalistic narrative of the current regime. The Yatra brought to light
problems that ordinary Indians have been suffering for the past decade,
including unemployment, the negative after-effects of crony capitalism,
growing intolerance and hatred, and the growing gap between the rich and the
poor, all of which have a detrimental and long-term impact on our country.
The Yatra instilled the feeling in the hearts of ordinary Indians that even
though the situation is bleak, it is not yet time to give up hope.
And finally, it is only because of Rahul Gandhi’s perseverance that India
has re-awakened to the truth that any progress that a nation can make is by
remaining united while celebrating its diversities. India is akin to a good thali
meal. What makes a thali meal taste good is not a single item in the thali but
all the items combined. Similarly, it is only when all the diversities of India
unite for a common goal that India will achieve its true potential.
When the history of these dark times is written sometime in the future, the
Bharat Jodo Yatra will be considered a landmark event that changed the
course of India for the better.

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 The Yatra, by a Yatri: Realizations and
Reflections
Dr Kanhaiya Kumar

A
yatra (journey) has its own distinct philosophy, based on the foundational
principle that everything is part of a constant and continuous process.
Whether it is from one point to another or from one state to another,
everything and everyone has its internal and external journeys, which goes on
perpetually.
Every individual is living their own journey and at the same time is
embedded within the larger journey of organizations, societies, countries and
civilizations. Just like a small stream takes on the form of a river, and many
small rivers join to transform into a sea, which ultimately becomes part of the
ocean. When viewed from this perspective, a yatra is a core part of life.
To this larger idea of yatra as a philosophy, I also have the fortune of
adding the experiences of a very unique journey across my country and
among the people who make it feel mine—the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Whenever someone mentions Bharat Jodo Yatra now, memories come
flooding in like stories from a favourite book. From the conception of the idea
of the Yatra and the decision of a name for this journey, to its commencement,
and challenges and struggles of committing to this journey and finally its
culmination, all thoughts appear as vividly as if it had happened yesterday.
Each person connected to the Yatra has their distinct experiences and
memories, and I wish to share some of my own experiences, realizations and
reflections with the readers in these few pages.
In this context, I believe it is imperative to begin by establishing the reason
why the oldest political party in our country, the Indian National Congress,
decided to embark on this prodigious journey. The assumption voiced as an
opinion by many people—that the ultimate goal of this Yatra was electoral
gain—is understandable, given that the initiative was spearheaded by a
political party. However, it could not be further from the truth. Electoral
benefit was nowhere on the agenda of the people leading the Yatra. The Yatra
began in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari at a time when there were no elections in

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the state or the constituency, and the parliamentary elections were also a
couple of years away. In fact, contrary to the assumption, the leadership was
clear that the primary objective of the Yatra was to embrace and promote love,
non-violence, unity and truth among fellow Indians and resist the atmosphere
of hatred, violence, fear and division gripping the nation day by day.
There are many conscientious Indians who share my observation and
opinion that the intent of the ruling dispensation is suspicious and
questionable. The actions of the current government astutely remind us of the
divide-and-rule tactics used by the British to establish colonial rule. Today
fear, hatred and divisiveness are being insidiously deployed to divide the
nation so that the ruling dispensation can divert our attention from the genuine
grassroots issues. Much like the days of the Raj, the hard-earned labour of
Indians is again being transferred into the pockets of crony capitalists, giving
them control over the nation’s future bit by bit.
Moreover, the drastic measures taken by the ruling party to suppress the
democratic voices of dissent and opposition further remind us of the country’s
colonial rulers in the past. Many have been tempted into silence by power and
money. Whoever has dared to openly oppose the actions of the government is
being suppressed using brute force, coercion tactics and institutional abuse
such as false police cases. No one has been spared, be it social organizations,
activists, political parties, leaders, soldiers, journalists, writers, artists,
students or farmers. The current government’s blatant disregard for India’s
constitutional democracy became more evident when they began arbitrarily
suspending elected representatives to the Lok Sabha and openly violating their
constitutional right to oppose. What is even more alarming is that the
institutions that are meant to uphold and protect the democratic structure of
the country have also been silenced. The independent media, which is meant
to support democracy, has been rendered useless. Instead of holding the
current government accountable for their actions, most of the press and media
glorifies their empty promises and, ironically, questions the Opposition when
they raise the issues of the people and demand transparency from the
government.
In the middle of this political scenario, the Indian National Congress, the
party that won freedom for the country and is the principal Opposition, was
duty-bound to go back among the people of the country and walk with them to
rebuild the bridges of hope. The need to protect the Indian philosophy of unity
in diversity and diversity in unity was now more urgent than ever. This twin
philosophy was the crucial foundation to fight fear with courage, hatred with

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love, violence with non-violence, divisiveness with unity and lies with the
truth.
After many rounds of discussion among the stakeholders, the party finally
decided and internally agreed that our intervention would be in the form of a
padyatra across the country. This was a moment of immense excitement and
anticipation for many people. But for me this decision was even more crucial
—it was a moment of great hope and an instant resolve that I had to undertake
this journey. Despite the fact that no formal announcement had been made by
then, I immediately ensured that the party leadership was informed about my
intent to be part of the Yatra.
The planning of the Yatra moved very quickly and positively after this
point. The roadmap of the padyatra was drawn out and various committees
were formed to undertake preparations. One of the first decisions stipulated by
the leadership was that even though the initiative was led by a political party,
the Yatra would be an open and inclusive space, where any person or
organization who believed in the Indian Constitution could participate.
Despite this clarity, there were still many issues that needed to be addressed,
such as whether the Yatra would be led by a person or the party as a whole.
Would it have a face at all? What would its structure be like? Would Rahul
Gandhi join the Yatra? What would be the name of this Yatra? What would be
the dates and the starting and end points of the Yatra?
It took several rounds of democratic discussions within the party to decide
on all these aspects and more. Finally, the party publicly declared the Bharat
Jodo Yatra, a padyatra across the length of India, starting from Kanyakumari
and culminating in Kashmir. It was announced that Rahul Gandhi, along with
selected Bharat yatris from across India, would walk the entire stretch of the
geographical terrain, while state yatris would join as the Yatra crossed their
respective states. While this preliminary information was circulated by the
party through media and social media outlets, people within the party were
anxiously waiting for the revelation of the Bharat yatri list. Finally, the
moment of truth arrived and the list was released. I distinctly remember the
joy and anticipation I felt when I saw my name on it. My feeling of resolve
was further strengthened when friends and colleagues from across the country
reached out to not just congratulate me, but also share their hopes and
expectations of the Yatra.
Once the news had settled in, I started preparing for the Yatra. Organizing
practical requirements such as clothes, shoes, medicines and other utilities
was easy and done in a matter of days. What was more significant to me was

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to prepare myself physically and mentally, and to reconnect with my own
thoughts to seek the right approach to undertake this journey. My friends had
expressed concerns about me walking the entire length. They were right, as I
was not used to walking 25 kilometres a day. But I distinctly remember that
when I told my mother I would be walking with Rahul Gandhi from
Kanyakumari to Kashmir, she simply asked, ‘Will you walk the entire 4,000
kilometres?’ And I instantly answered in the affirmative. At that moment, I
knew that my commitment and resolve to complete this Yatra had taken root
inside of me and that excitement had overpowered all my doubts.
I felt a similar emotion when I was booking tickets for Kanyakumari.
Trains were full and flight tickets were skyrocketing. It was as if people across
India were converging on Kanyakumari to participate in the Yatra. I managed
to reach Kerala via Mumbai, after which we undertook a road journey to
Kanyakumari. I was travelling with a friend at the time who was not
connected to politics. While we were on the road, I remember having a
conversation with him about how this Yatra was constantly reminding him of
Bapu’s Dandi March. Our discussion made us realize how often history is in
the making around us and we either don’t realize it or don’t get the
opportunity to be part of it. I remember his contented smile when he said he
was glad that he was going to witness and be part of something that might
reflect in our history in times to come. I didn’t say anything to him at the time,
but the weight of his and others’ expectations conferred a heavy responsibility
on all of us.
Once we reached Kanyakumari, finding accommodation until the Yatra
began was another big task, especially for my friend, who had not planned to
come in advance. After much to and fro, my friends, a few select yatris and I
finally managed to get accommodation in a government guest house. As we
laughingly spoke about our travel until then and anticipations ahead, another
friend, who had also registered to become a yatri, had planned well in advance
and reached Kanyakumari well in time, shared how, despite all the planning,
he had forgotten to get a raincoat. We all laughed, yet it became amply clear to
us from the beginning that no matter how prepared we were, no matter what
arrangements we had made, the Yatra would move at its own pace and would
have its own challenges.
After a couple of nights filled with restless excitement, the inauguration
day arrived. At the southernmost tip of India in Kanyakumari, on the banks of
the Indian Ocean, in the middle of light rain, the colours of our Tiranga
glowing against the grey water-laden sky opened the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The

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flag hoisting was followed by words of encouragement by the leaders. The
Yatra was finally afoot, with the Congress Sewa Dal members wearing
Gandhi topis and singing patriotic songs of love and unity with the Tiranga in
their hands leading the way. Behind them were Bharat yatris, state yatris,
Rahul Gandhi and a sea of people. While most of them were Congress
supporters, karyakartas and leaders, several civil society groups and
independent citizens who believed in the values of the Yatra and Rahul
Gandhi’s leadership had also joined in. Nevertheless, no matter what the
reason for the person to join this march, the ultimate purpose was the same for
all of us—to save India from the fires of hatred.
Every day was a new experience from then on. As we moved ahead,
people from every part of the country came to participate in the Yatra. People
from across communities, religions and languages joined in. Some came to
see us, others came to walk with us; some shared their grief with us, while
others shared their hope; some lightened our hearts with laughter on difficult
days and others reminded us of the cause that we were walking and fighting
for. There were also those who could not physically participate, yet ensured
that their support was counted in through other means. And just like this, we
kept moving ahead. It was us and the Yatra, with each other and in each other
at every juncture.
Wherever the Yatra passed through, we as yatris experienced India in its
totality—its people, societies, economic shifts, cultural exuberance, religious
piety and glorious landscapes. The people, in turn, observed and experienced
the Yatra. The yatris themselves were almost nomads, as each evening we
entered a new campsite, meticulously planned ahead by our amazing
organizing team. However, by the time we would settle in, the site would be
demolished again and re-established in another part. Even though it was well
equipped with all basic necessities, living in this environment still brought its
own challenges for each of us. Waking up every day, getting ready, hoisting
the flag, singing prayers, having breakfast (and on some days even skipping
it) and starting the padyatra—this was our routine for five long months.
As the Yatra progressed across India, the layers of the yatris were laid bare
as well. For the first time in my political life, I realized how the process of the
Yatra brought out the inner values and truest behaviours of those travelling
together. When you live with someone for months together, you get to see the
inner character of that person. The gap between what someone says and what
they practise becomes easily visible. I came to the realization that if one
wished to truly understand someone, they had to undertake a yatra together. In

95
political life, where pretence, deceit and fakery are commonplace, a yatra
offers one a chance to witness the reality of a person. It was a matter of great
relief to me to see that the Congress party was like a family during the Yatra. I
made friends and got acquainted with like-minded people. Now wherever I
go, I meet people who know me and those that I know. In every programme
across the country, now the common reference point is that ‘we participated in
Bharat Jodo Yatra together’. The Yatra has created a strong sense of affinity
for the party and party workers for me.
The temporary nature of our lives and the lessons from it is one of the
shared experiences for the yatris, but the experiences that were even more
overwhelming were those we shared with the people we met on the way. On
so many occasions, as we were walking in the heat, people would come to
give us water just to show they cared. Sometimes the shopkeepers would
refuse money when we purchased food or water from them and kindly ask us
to accept the items as a token of their support for our cause.
For me, the most profound conversations were with children on the way. I
remember meeting a very excited child shouting slogans. I asked him if his
parents had brought him to the Yatra. I was filled with such pride when the
child answered, ‘Actually, no, I brought my parents here.’ I consider children
to be great educators—after all, they are our future. In my political journey, I
have witnessed how quickly and powerfully children catch on to slogans when
the ‘Azaadi Azaadi’ slogan was taken up by them across Delhi and even India.
I got to observe this again during the Yatra. Children would clap and cheer as
we began our journey. Once the Yatra gained more visibility through the
media and social media, we met children in different parts shouting the
slogan: ‘दिल से दिल को कौन जोड़ेगा? हम जोड़ेगें, हम जोड़ेगें। (Who will bring
hearts closer? We will, we will.)’ It reminded us that the future still held great
possibilities for this nation.
Hope is a powerful emotion and while we all wish to stay hopeful in life,
how many people can actually say that they have seen hope ignited like fire in
people’s eyes? I believe my fellow yatris and I can definitely say we have. As
we moved across the country, we observed how the Yatra rebuilt the bridges
of hope with love, humanity and non-violence, connecting people with people.
Irrespective of the weather, be it day or night, be it any region, there was not a
single moment where we did not witness people pouring in to join the Yatra.
Some people came in search of solutions for their problems; others came
looking to ease or share their pain; and some came to just catch a glimpse of
Rahul Gandhi or the other leaders. People cheered us from atop their terraces

96
and windows, from the gates of factories, schools, colleges and hospitals, and
from outside temples, gurdwaras, mosques, churches and monasteries. It was
like the whole of India had been waiting for the Yatra. The Yatra and the yatris
became part of their lives, much in the same way that their trials and
tribulations became part of us. Those who believed in the ideals and values of
the Yatra were obviously part of it, but I think that even those who opposed
and ridiculed it were part of it in their own way.
Although it is difficult to summarize a journey of five months and
spanning thousands of kilometres in a few pages, I have tried my best to share
them with you. However, what is even more difficult for me is to share the
immense knowledge I received during this time and the impact that the Yatra
has had on me. But there are some lessons I wish to share, without which this
account will be incomplete.
First, as we traversed across the country the discomfort of the discipline
and the pains of the blisters on our feet were replaced by sheer amazement. It
is easy to read in a book or to say that India is a beautiful, multicultural nation
of people, but it is a completely different experience to actually see and absorb
it. Our culture, food, languages and beliefs may look different, but they are all
connected by the flow and acceptance of common ideas and thoughts.
Otherwise, we would not find the statue of Bihar’s leader Babu Jagjivan Ram
in Andhra Pradesh or B.R. Ambedkar’s statue in Jammu. This country is not
just a connected mass of land—it is, in the truest essence, a connected land of
ideas and emotions.
This brings me to the second learning, rather relearning, of the fact that the
most significant idea and emotion that connects us all is love. One way in
which people often came to show their love and support was by bringing us
food. Sometimes we got home-cooked idlis, sometimes poha and sometimes
parathas. Across the country, the flavours of these dishes surely kept
changing, but the love with which they were made remained the same. The
amount of love that we received from the people during the Yatra was beyond
what I had ever imagined. What was most surprising for me was the manner
in which children, the elderly and especially women came out in large
numbers and hugged Rahul Gandhi. It seems incredible that a Yatra and a
political leader can receive so much love from so many. But we did, and he
did too.
And this makes me come to my third learning. Togetherness is key. It is
only by building togetherness on the foundations of our connected ideas and
mutual love that we can save the nation from hatred and build a better and just

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future for us all. And this is the idea that brings me back to why we undertook
the Yatra. Now that I had already been part of the journey, I could clearly see
that one of the most special things about the Yatra was that from the very
beginning, it progressed naturally—it flowed. It is the positive outlook of the
ideas and objectives of this Yatra that gave it this spontaneous flow. It is my
belief that the power of love, non-violence, unity and courage gave strength to
the Yatra.
Finally, as we entered the Kashmir Valley for the last leg of the Yatra, the
positivity and feeling of togetherness also reaffirmed my commitment to the
cause and to the people who had undertaken this journey with me. Despite
several challenges and difficulties—political, geographical, organizational and
personal—the Yatra had continued unabated. Be it because of the participation
of the common people, the organizational strength of the Congress party in
various states, Rahul Gandhi’s personal capabilities, arrangements, security or
the impact of the weather, the Yatra proved all scepticisms to be unfounded.
History will decide if the Yatra is deemed a success or a failure, but those of
us who walked in the Yatra know it has rekindled the flame of hope in people.
The love and support that we all received demonstrated that it is only the
Congress party that has and will continue to bring people together.
It is with these thoughts, lessons, realizations and memories that I found
myself with all the yatris in the freshly snowed-in Kashmir Valley on the
closing day. The closing speech by Rahul Gandhi in the middle of a snowfall
felt as if we had come a complete circle from our rainy beginning. Scientists
say that each snowflake is different from the other. We felt the same way—so
many different people and languages, but all part of the same snowfall and the
same nation.
One year ago, when we celebrated the completion of the Bharat Jodo
Yatra, I thought we were closing the Yatra. I thought that the journey was over
and I was heading back home, and that we will continue to carry the cause
forward in different ways. It is true that we have carried the message of love
and unity in different ways since then and shall continue to do so. However,
upon further reflection, I do not believe the Yatra is over for me. I believe it is
still in me and I am still in the Yatra, learning to live with its values and living
to learn from the people of my nation.

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 India’s Tiruvila
R. Sudha

F
rom the very first step we took in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, the
atmosphere crackled with energy. But that’s how it is in any political rally
or campaign. This is perhaps why many people viewed the Bharat Jodo Yatra
as a one-off political event. But were they mistaken! The Yatra slowly
burgeoned into a movement—a huge tiruviḻā (festival) that declared in every
inch it crossed that we the people were the architects of our destiny.
The Yatra around Rahul Gandhi was very different from what it was for the
rest of us. The security concerns, the walking interactions, the periodic
involvement of senior leaders, the bystanders whom Rahul ji called in and
hugged, the many emotions that he shared and felt, all in full view of the
media glare, gave the first 2 kilometres of the Yatra a very different flavour.
But the 8 or 10 kilometres after that were an entirely different experience. For
each of us, it was a varied experience. In that sense it was many different
yatras flowing out of and into one big yatra.
For me, with every hand I shook and every greeting I exchanged, I sensed
the heartbeat of my fellow countrymen. Many cheered us on, carrying their
party flags and badges. At that time I was so swept up in the initial tempo and
excitement that I waved enthusiastically and shook their hands. But later I
began wondering why they were there. I first thought the worst—maybe
people had come just to see India’s biggest political celebrity, Rahul Gandhi.
Maybe they had come to check how strong the Congress party was. Or maybe
they had come to witness a huge spectacle, like all of us do. These thoughts
began worrying me and I began asking people as often as I could. And I was
very taken aback. The majority of them said they had come because they were
fighting for a dream that was India.
After twenty long years in politics, those initial few weeks reinforced my
faith in humanity. I genuinely felt as if politics extended beyond power. What
I long felt was a solitary commitment to serve people was suddenly a shared
sentiment. Everywhere around me, a huge movement was swirling, engulfing
me in its idealism and patriotism. It didn’t matter what party you belonged to,
which post you held, how much money you had, or which religion or caste

99
you belonged to—everyone was welcome. Everyone who walked (some even
hopped in excitedly and walked with us for a while) or witnessed the Yatra
from the sides shared a commitment to the nation. In just existing as it did, it
was a call to action. It urged us to rise above divisions and be the change we
sought. That, I think, was the first big success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which
put a finger on the pulse of the world’s largest democracy. A wide tapestry of
voices across the nation melded into a symphony of shared purpose.
The second big success of the Yatra was that it showed the nation and the
Congress party that Rahul Gandhi was the one man who people across the
country put their unwavering trust in (some doubted him before 2019, as was
clear in his resignation letter). If people said this in front of him, one could
dismiss it as mere flattery. But they had no reason to tell us that, walking
kilometres behind Rahul ji’s D-section. Without an iota of exaggeration, I can
say that the people I spoke to in every state genuinely saw Rahul Gandhi as
someone who would not compromise with the Sangh Parivar. They thought he
was sincere, idealistic and with a vision for the country. The nation finally saw
his deep sensitivity, which I have witnessed many times.
This was reinforced in Rajasthan, when a man with a disability said to me,
‘I may not have legs, but I am here to support Rahul Gandhi in building a
better nation.’ Despite facing tremendous challenges, he displayed an
unwavering commitment to a cause bigger than himself. Obviously his
strength went beyond the physical, reminding me to have the courage to stand
up for my beliefs. But the profound love he had for Rahul ji left me in tears. I
was so proud to follow a man who could inspire such devotion.
I just have to think back to what I saw in Marthandam in Kerala and in
Rajasthan. As we entered the town’s embrace, we were greeted with the
eruption of a powerful roar, which shook the ground long after we walked by.
We were swept up in a tidal wave of chants of ‘Rahul ... Rahul ... Rahul …’ I
am from Tamil Nadu, where people go deliriously mad when they see
celebrities such as Rajinikanth, Jayalalithaa and Kamal Haasan. So I’m used
to frenzies. But I have never seen that kind of adulation and love. You had to
be there to believe it. Earlier, whenever I saw any post from the Sanghi
ecosystem suggesting that Rahul Gandhi was not a popular leader or
something equally nonsensical, I used to get very worked up. Now I just
remember Marthandam and chuckle to myself. I don’t think any of us will get
fazed any more and deal with them easily.

Struggles and Succour

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But it was not all hope and idealism and boundless energy. It was hard work
and sacrifice and pain. Even though it was the sweet voice of Pyari Jaan (a
Bharat yatri from Karnataka who would sing the morning prayer every day
before the Yatra) that awakened us every day, it was at 3.30 a.m.! Even though
I always found it amusing to be greeted in various Indian languages, it was
over breakfast at 5 a.m.! And even though my heart was full of pride to see
my Tricolour every morning, the flag hoisting was at 5.15 a.m. The Yatra
began at 5.45 a.m. and continued till 7 p.m. every day! The discipline we all
had to follow rigorously for six months was extraordinary. It was very
strenuous.
So one day, during lunch, Rahul Gandhi surprised some of us yatris by
joining us for a casual discussion. Others talked about lofty ideas, but I didn’t
want to waste the chance. So before anyone could object, I suggested, ‘Why
don’t we walk a more manageable 10 kilometres? Twenty-five kilometres is a
lot per day.’ Rahul ji was so surprised that he burst out laughing. Disarmingly,
he said that if I continued with the current plan, I would end up emerging as a
sportswoman after the Yatra. But I think he told the other yatris to check on
me, and a couple of people did so every day. To the point that one day, the
newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approached me to
enquire about any discomfort or leg pain I might be suffering from! It could
have been just a coincidence, but I was overwhelmed by the kindness he
showed to all yatris.
This sensitivity was again brought to our attention when Ganesh ji, a
fellow yatri from Tamil Nadu, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest in Maharashtra. It
cast a pall over the entire Yatra because we had all become so close. We were
so excited in the first two days in Maharashtra (because of the night-time
torch march and the qualitatively better arrangements), but all that enthusiasm
went out of the window when we lost Ganesh ji. We all felt it as a personal
loss and everyone was very upset. Senior leaders such as Digvijaya Singh and
Ashok Chavan were trying their best to comfort us, even though they had
spent the whole night in the ICU with Ganesh ji.
But what gave us solace and comfort was when the next day, as Ganesh ji’s
body was transported in the ambulance to his final resting place, Rahul
Gandhi paid his respects. After spending over an hour in homage, he left for
his tent, only to return swiftly. He gently opened the casket, and tenderly kept
looking at Ganesh ji. He didn’t say anything, but we could all see how visibly
he was moved. He gently hugged some yatris who were beside themselves,
and comforted us, even though he himself was so affected. I don’t know why,

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but I immediately remembered images of Rajiv Gandhi comforting Rahul ji
after Indira Madam’s brutal assassination. In that instance, the depth of Rahul
ji’s compassion became apparent to everyone. Even though the loss was felt
strongly, its sting was lessened by his humanity.
I started observing Rahul ji much more closely: when he met recently
graduated students, dressed in graduation robes and carrying a placard around
their necks saying ‘We are unemployed’; when he met survivors of rape and
acid attacks; when he met young children; when he met forty women workers
availing of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act, who my Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress team had brought
together. Despite the Act being a demand-driven scheme, they complained
that they could not avail of the work or get unemployment benefits. At the end
of the interaction, one of the older women started insisting that Rahul ji get
married to someone from Kanyakumari so he could become Tamil Nadu’s
son-in-law. After such an intense and serious discussion, this sparked general
hilarity from everyone. But Rahul ji was humble, involved and magnanimous,
like in every instance. And to be so kind and patient when he himself had
tremendous pain in his knee … How could anyone possibly say (as the Sangh
does) that he was a princeling who didn’t care? Every single day I saw him, I
just kept thinking that he was the best possible leader for India.

The Essence of Bharat Jodo Yatra

One of the macro-level things that I feel the Bharat Jodo Yatra did was
transform passive spectators into engaged citizens. Many people had clearly
come just to see Rahul Gandhi and this grand serpentine rally floating through
their villages and towns. But seeing us limping, smiling and talking to them
made them want to join us. They started joining us and feeding us. Children
played with us, girls shyly hugged us and the elderly chatted with us. I think
we were changing minds as we went along. This was happening in all of the
twelve states, across cultures, regions and language divides. This whole
experience suggested that politics demands participation rather than mere
observation.
Secondly, I made some fantastic friends during the Yatra. Politics is very
cut-throat, and people might have different motives and agendas. But in the
Yatra, barriers and ceilings were broken daily. My container mate Ruchira
became like my sister; Apeksha, Dinesh, Mohan, Pratishta, Pushparaj and
others became my close friends, as did many others. The bonds we formed

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have outlasted the Yatra. But even more importantly, I saw that 90 per cent of
people in the Yatra (yatris and organizers) were good people who were in
politics because of idealism. They all suffered the same things I did. So I
found solace in their companionship. We could see that there were some who
were in the Yatra and in politics for all the wrong reasons. They were trying to
behave like watchmen around senior leaders—they were bossing us around,
behaving as if they knew everything and sycophantically crowding leaders for
gifts and future rewards. But 90 per cent of us saw through these and laughed
it off. We were united behind our leader Rahul Gandhi, who was inspiring us
with his sacrifice, idealism and discipline. He was someone we all aspired to
emulate, and he sharpened our commitment.
Like Mahatma Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi became the symbol of resistance. All
credit must go to him for his determination, dedication and commitment. I
don’t know if he realizes this, but he forced the Congress party to reconnect
with India and the Indian people. At most, each of us would have connected to
our own district or our respective states. But he made us meet people across
the length and breadth of India. He gave us a political education that no other
leader would have. I have such a deeper appreciation of local artisans, ancient
practices and traditional cuisines (my favourite) from across India. And he
showed us all that politics is more than climbing this slippery pole. His
historic odyssey, which is now our historic odyssey, firmly reasserted that
politics revolves around our people, their dreams and their aspirations. And it
indelibly stamped one thing on all our minds: Our only duty is to empower
people to become the architects of their fate. Because of that, I felt that the
Yatra was both a political and a cultural renaissance that trained us to forge a
stronger, more inclusive nation.

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 My Bharat Jodo Yatra Story
Lhingkim Haokip Shingnaisui

I
n the tapestry of our lives, there are a few rare and defining moments—
times when history bends and fate is redefined. It is on these occasions that
we are given the chance to shape our individual and collective destinies, in
ways we never imagined. These moments are not just milestones—they are
the threads that weave the story of change, reminding us of the infinite
possibilities within ourselves and our shared humanity.
The day of 7 September 2022 was that rare, defining moment in my life.
On that historic day, I embarked on a journey that would redefine my
understanding of this incredible nation. Stretching 3,570 kilometres, from the
tranquil shores of Kanyakumari to the snow-kissed peaks of Kashmir, the
Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) stands as a testament to the transformative power of
unity and shared purpose. The BJY was not just a geographical traverse—it
was a profound odyssey that reshaped not just our understanding of India, but
also our place in this great nation.
Steered by the charismatic Rahul Gandhi, the Yatra featured a fleet of sixty
containers that served as temporary homes to more than 230 individuals who
came from all walks of life and represented the whole country. In the middle
of this diverse assortment, I found my home in a humble yet cherished four-
bed container—a space that held not just my physical presence but the
collective hopes and aspirations of our diverse group. I found solidarity,
resilience and a collective determination that defined the very essence of the
Yatra.
In the serenity of our journey, we found ourselves transcending the mere
physical landscapes that stretched before us. We confronted the intricate
depths of our emotions and thoughts, reshaping our understanding of life’s
innumerable complexities. As I represented the enchanting Northeastern
region on this remarkable Yatra, I couldn’t help but feel the profound privilege
bestowed upon me, combined with a sense of responsibility as vast as the
mountains that surrounded us. Over 150 days, our Yatra passed through the
diverse terrains of twelve states and two union territories, etching a lasting

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impression on our hearts and minds, and leaving behind stories that would
echo through the hills and valleys we traversed.
When I started the Yatra, doubt whispered in the rustle of the leaves,
questioning my ability to navigate the challenges of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The fear of faltering weighed heavy on my heart and mind, like the mist that
hung over the mountains. But with each passing day, the ever-changing
landscape of the Yatra began to imitate the transformation within me. This
odyssey, akin to the tales spun in the quiet corners of the hills, taught me that
courage is found in confronting our fears, in embracing the unknown and
finding strength amid the challenges that life hurls at you. It underscored the
simple yet profound truth that binds us all—our shared humanity.
At a time when the world still slumbered, our days began around 4
o’clock. Rising before the sun, we would gather for breakfast, a ritual that
became not just sustenance for our bodies but also nourishment for our souls.
In those early hours, amid the hushed conversations and shared laughter, I
found a rhythm that mirrored the heartbeat of our Yatra.
This early-morning ritual, emerging with the sun, became more than just a
routine. It transformed into a vital ceremony, a sacred moment in our day. It
was in these quiet hours that we gathered our thoughts, preparing ourselves
for the adventures that lay ahead during the day. In this serene ambience, amid
the rustle of leaves and the waking calls of birds, we discovered a profound
sense of contemplation and readiness.
Amid the physical trials, the Yatra became a canvas of cultural exchange.
Conversations with fellow travellers, particularly those who harboured
misconceptions about the Northeast, became opportunities for connection and
understanding. I embraced the role of an ambassador, bridging gaps and
dispelling stereotypes, fostering unity and appreciation for the rich tapestry of
our nation.
The journey’s significance deepened in the encounters with the people
along our path. Their anticipation, as they gathered along the roadside, was
palpable. Their smiles and outstretched arms reached out not just for a
glimpse of the yatris, but also for a sense of connection, a shared enthusiasm
that transcended age and background. Their faces lit up with hope. Their eyes
were waiting in anticipation to witness the charismatic presence of Rahul ji,
whose influence extended far beyond our immediate circle. These encounters
mirrored the diversity of India, illustrating how our Bharat Jodo Yatra had
touched hearts across generations, uniting people from varied walks of life.

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 During the course of the Yatra, we found ourselves blessed with the
enduring guidance and encouragement of two distinguished persons—Jairam
Ramesh ji and Digvijaya Singh ji, both eminent leaders in their own right.
They became our sturdy pillars, accompanying us faithfully through the highs
and lows of this incredible journey. Their unwavering support and motivation
served as a timeless wellspring of inspiration, coaxing us to always offer our
very best, much like the flowing waters of a perennial mountain stream.
The journey was not without its challenges. A moment of vulnerability
arose on the fifteenth day of the Yatra, when a sprained ankle threatened to
halt my steps. I faced a formidable challenge that put my determination and
resilience to the test. Frustration and uncertainty gripped me. It threatened to
drown my spirits in despair. In that trying moment, it was our leader, Rahul ji,
who extended his caring hand to enquire about my well-being. His
compassion and unwavering support became a source of unending energy. It
nurtured my determination and rekindled my hope.
Rahul ji’s consistent display of kindness and compassion emerged as a
beacon of strength for all of us. Working closely with a leader of his calibre
was a privilege, and I felt truly fortunate to be part of a team under his
guidance. His leadership transcended mere politics—it embodied empathy,
unity and the ability to inspire even in the face of adversity. Rahul ji’s
humility, down-to-earth nature and approachable demeanour endeared him to
the entire group, making our journey not just a political one but a shared
voyage fuelled by empathy and camaraderie.
In the heart-warming camaraderie of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, I found myself
enveloped in the embrace of a compassionate community. Priyanka Gandhi ji,
in particular, consistently demonstrated a heartfelt concern for each of us. The
warmth and affection emanating from the Gandhi family stand as a powerful
testament to their genuine care for every citizen of this country. Their
influence stretches far and wide, resonating deeply across the diverse tapestry
of India and endearing them to people throughout the nation. In their
presence, I felt not just the touch of leadership but the genuine warmth of a
caring family.
This Yatra wasn’t merely an exploration of India—it was equally a
discovery of one another. In the middle of our shared travels, there existed
moments of delightful camaraderie. Many fellow yatris I met harboured a
curious fascination for my political journey. One recurring question often
surfaced—a rather amusing anecdote in my political career. It circled around
the time I had contested for the legislative assembly elections on an INC

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ticket, a journey that pitted me against my own father, who stood as a
candidate on a BJP ticket. This peculiar situation frequently ignited intriguing
discussions, infusing a dose of humour into our exchanges. It revealed that
even within the most earnest pursuits, there existed pockets of light-
heartedness and curiosity.
Being a native of the Northeast, I encountered a notable challenge during
the Yatra—the vast contrast in culinary preferences. In my homeland, I was
accustomed to straightforward and simple meals. However, as we traversed
diverse regions during this Yatra, I found myself embarking on an unexpected
culinary adventure. The array of flavours and cuisines that surrounded me was
nothing short of enchanting, a delightful exploration of diverse tastes that
added a flavourful dimension to our journey.
Immersing myself in different cultures offered a chance to forge profound
bonds with my fellow yatris hailing from every corner of our vast nation.
Interacting with the individuals we encountered during our strolls across
different states got seamlessly woven into the fabric of our experience.
Listening to their stories, sharing laughter-laden moments and delving into the
intricacies of their lives added a rich layer of depth to our shared journey.
Each encounter was akin to turning a new page in a captivating novel,
revealing the varied hues and textures of our country, and bringing us closer
together in the process.
It was a curious blend of amusement and revelation when many
individuals would mistakenly perceive me as Chinese or Japanese. Initially,
the amusement arose from the innocent confusion, but beneath the surface, it
carried a profound learning. This misconception, I realized, sprang from the
limited portrayal of the North-east in mainstream media. In response, I
undertook the task of bridging this gap and offering a deeper understanding.
Instead of taking offence, I chose to respond with a warm and friendly smile.
Engaging them in conversations in Hindi, I sought to provide a glimpse into
the vibrant and culturally diverse tapestry of the Northeast. Each interaction
became an opportunity not just to dispel stereotypes, but also to share the
intrinsic beauty and richness of our region with my fellow Indians. It became
a chance to nurture unity and cultivate an appreciation for the varied heritage
that our nation possesses, fostering a deeper sense of connection and pride in
our shared identity.
Navigating my way through the journey with a sprained ankle demanded
not just physical endurance, but a reservoir of inner strength and tenacity.
Despite the persistent ache, the sheer delight I derived from witnessing the

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genuine smiles on people’s faces and feeling their infectious enthusiasm as
they greeted us, especially upon spotting the Congress flag, was immensely
fulfilling. These encounters became a poignant reminder that our Yatra was
indeed leaving an indelible mark on people, a reminder that our efforts,
despite the trials we endured, were meaningful. In the face of adversity, these
moments of connection stood tall as a testament to the enduring impact of our
shared journey, highlighting the strength of the human spirit and the power of
shared endeavours.
As the days unfurled into weeks, a mounting wave of homesickness began
to settle within me. The familiar ache for home and the comforting presence
of loved ones took up an unavoidable space in my heart. Despite this
emotional struggle, I discovered resilience in the steadfast support and
ceaseless prayers from my beloved family and friends. Their boundless love
and unwavering encouragement transformed into a sturdy anchor, grounding
me and propelling me forward on this challenging Yatra. In their thoughts and
wishes, I found the strength to endure, reminding me that, even in the middle
of vast distances, the warmth of home and love could bridge any emotional
gap.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra emerged as a profound mentor, guiding me in the
art of finding joy in life’s humblest offerings. It served as a poignant reminder
that, amid the grandeur of colossal adventures, it is often the little, unnoticed
things that carry the deepest significance. In the middle of longing for home
and grappling with physical trials, I unearthed a wealth of happiness in the
shared simplicity of a meal, the echo of laughter among newfound
companions and the quiet beauty of a sunrise. These unassuming moments not
only brought immense joy, but also wove themselves into the fabric of
unforgettable memories, proving that life’s true treasures are often found in
the most unexpected and simple places.
The Yatra’s culmination, set against the pristine snow of Jammu and
Kashmir, was a moment of profound patriotism. The flag-hoisting ceremony,
led by Rahul ji, symbolized not just the conclusion of our journey but the
enduring spirit of our nation. It became a symbol of the strength of unity, a
reflection of our shared values and a celebration of the deep love we held for
our country.
Returning home, the warm reception from the Manipur Congress and my
dear family was more than a greeting—it was a recognition of our shared
accomplishment. It marked not just the end of a physical journey, but the

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beginning of a new chapter, one filled with stories of unity, strength and the
enduring spirit of India.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra was more than an expedition—it was a pilgrimage
of the soul. Through the diverse landscapes and faces, it revealed the intricate
tapestry of India, weaving together stories of resilience and connection. It
taught me the power of unity, the significance of empathy and the beauty of
shared purpose. In its quiet moments and grand celebrations, I found not just a
journey but a profound revelation, a chapter in my life story that resonates
with the timeless spirit of our nation.
Amid the enchanting melodies of nature, I discovered the resilience of the
human spirit, learning that even in the face of daunting peaks, we possess the
innate ability to ascend, to overcome and to emerge victorious, much like the
sun rising over the hills, dispelling the darkness with its gentle glow.

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 The Journey of Love
Jothimani Sennimalai

A
t the confluence of the three seas in Kanyakumari, their resounding
waves, the serene Gandhi Mandapam, the tranquil memorial of
Perunthalaivar Kamarajar, the towering statue of the esteemed Tamil poet
Thiruvalluvar and the majestic rock memorial of Swami Vivekananda awaited
a historic event. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, poised to exert a
substantial impact on India’s political, social and cultural landscape, was on
the brink of commencement. The atmosphere resonated with undulating
waves of people, their voices harmonizing with the rhythmic cadence of the
seas. The earnest countenances of the Congress party workers, who had
gathered from across the nation, added radiance to the sunlit land. The scene
was enchanting, seamlessly aligned with nature, as the tender sea breeze,
carrying a soothing humidity, gently embraced the surroundings. A resounding
cheer marked Rahul Gandhi’s arrival, persisting even as he initiated the Yatra.
Rahul Gandhi sat in contemplation with closed eyes before the urn
containing the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi, the revered Father of the Nation.
His journey, paralleling that of Mahatma Gandhi, who had traversed the
nation in humble third-class train coaches, stirred the conscience of the world
with love and non-violence. An invisible historical thread intricately bound
them together.
The stretch of road from Kanyakumari to Kashmir is more than mere
terrain—it embodies an emotional tapestry woven from the diverse threads of
races, religions, languages, cultures, customs and beliefs. It also harbours
disparities and oppressions rooted in gender, caste and economic inequalities.
Navigating this trail on foot poses numerous challenges that must be
confronted.
Confronting these challenges demands profound comprehension,
unyielding resolve and extraordinary courage. The nation waited to discern
whether Rahul Gandhi possessed those qualities and if he was indeed the
beacon of hope this land sought. A disdainful, hate-spreading faction, devoid
of the inclination to share genuine affection with the common populace,
continued its mockery and mean propaganda.

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 Yet, in that moment, Rahul sat there with closed eyes, akin to a karma
yogi, perceiving only the unfolding path in front of him. Following the prayer,
the Indian national flag was entrusted to Rahul Gandhi by the chief ministers
of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
For him, the Indian national flag is not just a symbol—it’s a creed. As a
scion of the Gandhi family, he carries forward a legacy where two great
leaders from his lineage sacrificed their lives for the nation. It’s a source of
pride—the embodiment of dedication, the spirit of sacrifice and patriotism.
Back then, the awe-inspiring sight of that flag proudly soaring in Kashmir,
triumphing over challenges and hardships, seemed unimaginable.
Initially, I had no intention of completing the entire Yatra due to my
chronic knee issues, which limit my ability to cover long distances. However,
considering my role as a member of the Bharat Jodo Yatra committee, I
resolved to walk only within Tamil Nadu. As the march progressed, on the
third night, the Indian national flag crossed the border into Kerala. Reflecting
on my fifteen-year journey with Rahul Gandhi, I reminisced about his
significant impact on my life, his contributions to the political landscape, and
his unwavering support during critical moments.
During our sojourn in Tamil Nadu, we limited our daily walk to a modest
15 kilometres. However, upon entering Kerala, we covered an ambitious 27
kilometres on the first day. In a state of bewilderment, I asked Sateeshan,
‘Don’t you have any mercy?’ Concerns about Rahul’s ability to cover the
3,500-kilometre journey to Kashmir arose, but he remained determined, and
continued to walk, unyielding to both pain and distance.
The Yatra kicked off promptly at 6 o’clock in the morning, a routine set by
the daily alarm. The day began at four in the morning, rising, preparing,
having a meal and heading to the starting point of the Yatra for the day. On
some days, a kilometre-long trek was required to reach the Yatra’s starting
point. Despite the challenges, Rahul’s unwavering determination and
engagement with people along the route were evident.
The Yatra encountered natural challenges, particularly in Haryana and
Punjab during winter, when early-morning visibility was severely limited.
Women who assembled in the morning faced difficulties catching up with
Rahul, requiring them to tread for at least an hour before reaching him. This
presented a considerable challenge, showcasing the perseverance of women
who attributed importance to their health amid the difficulties.
Despite the numerous encounters and challenges, Rahul’s organic
relationship with women during the Yatra stood out. Women hugged him with

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genuine affection, shattering conventions about the nature of connections
between men and women in public spaces. The idea of having a ‘women-only
day’ in each state was suggested, and despite initial resistance, Rahul endorsed
it, leading to memorable and joyous experiences on those days.
The days when Sonia Amma and Priyanka Gandhi joined the walk were
enchanting, energetic and emotional, despite increased risks. The scenes of
everyday life along the Yatra route—dusty huts, children in tattered clothes
and people living amid poverty—underscored the contrast between their
dreams and their challenging realities. The Yatra became a journey of love
through streets often sown with hate, with each encounter weighing on the
heart, a testament to the nobility of such a pursuit.
The Yatra signifies a pivotal chapter in the annals of Indian political and
social history, highlighting an ever-expanding divide between the political
elite and the general populace. This widening schism presents an urgent
concern, escalating by the day, emphasizing the imperative need for a
comprehensive exploration of the factors contributing to this disjunction
within the nation’s political and social tapestry.
In the prevailing landscape, characterized by the ascendancy of ideologies
rooted in animosity and violence within the corridors of governmental power,
the burden on the populace is escalating. Seeds of acrimony and aggression
are swiftly taking root in India, a country endowed with a heritage of harmony
among diverse faiths, languages and cultures. In this critical, tragic and
seemingly despondent milieu, the leader of a political party undertook an
extraordinary journey, surmounting adverse weather conditions, threats to life
and physical challenges. With the noble objective of sowing seeds of love
against the prevailing backdrop of hatred and violence, the leader traversed
the Indian landscape alongside the people. Initially met with scepticism by
many, this accomplishment shattered preconceived notions meticulously
constructed by the BJP over almost a decade, substantiated by hefty financial
investments.
The resilience and unwavering determination displayed throughout the
Yatra stand as a testament to the leader’s commitment to the cause, offering a
glimmer of hope amid challenging circumstances. His expressions of love left
an indelible mark wherever his footsteps touched the ground. His millions of
followers became messengers, disseminating the message of love far and
wide. The common people’s mobile-phone cameras triumphed over the
media’s negative propaganda. With numerous cameras lining both sides of the
road, capturing every moment of every kilometre covered, and at least 25,000

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people daily recording this historic event, the march of the messenger of love
became a spectacle. These recordings, enthusiastically shared on social media,
swiftly reached millions of people.
What commenced as a simple yatra of sowing love transformed into a
colossal people’s movement. Power and opulence, which had long treated
people as mere political pawns for almost a decade, were silently challenged
by this peaceful march. The refreshing change of addressing a leader
affectionately by name, exchanging love and opinions, and departing without
gender distinctions were noted. Another vivid image etched into my memory
is that of the leader’s interactions with children, who brought vibrant
liveliness to every scene with their presence and overwhelming warmth.
These moments, coupled with the leader lifting children on to his shoulders,
further enhanced the enchantment of the journey. People now hold the belief
that genuine leadership involves walking amid the great flood of people,
listening to the heart’s voice of the common folk, and confronting the
everyday physical and mental challenges faced by them, all while maintaining
unwavering determination and refusing to compromise on principles,
regardless of encountered obstacles. This march has firmly taken root in the
minds of the youth. Additionally, the Yatra also celebrated the arts, serving as
cultural and historical documents of this great nation.
The Yatra imparted lessons that surpass the teachings of a lifetime,
instilling courage, resilience and hope. The conviction that Rahul Gandhi is
the answer to the country’s current challenges was further strengthened. The
Yatra was not merely a journey—it was a reflection of India’s conscience,
transcending all barriers. Being a small part of this reflection, a witness to
history being made, is something I will take pride in until the end of my life.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra revealed, as it did for millions of others, the true
essence of Bharat. The spirit of India shall prevail and thrive.
As the march progressed from Punjab, the chill in the air became more
pronounced. For someone born in Karur, where the climate remains relatively
constant even within Tamil Nadu, adapting to the cold posed a challenge. The
weather forecast predicted temperatures plummeting to minus ten degrees by
the time we reached Kashmir, prompting me to stock up on winterwear from
head to toe. Uncharacteristically, I indulged in extensive clothing purchases
during the Yatra, deviating from my usual spending habits. Here, waking up at
four in the morning for a bath was a necessity to reach the starting point
before six. When questioned in Kerala about the possibility of adjusting the
timing, Rahul, who had hinted at potential changes after reaching

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Maharashtra, appeared to have conveniently forgotten ever having discussed
this possibility! Expressing concern to someone striding through extreme cold
in just a simple T-shirt and cotton pants seemed futile. It was evident that no
climatic extremity could deter his relentless march. The sole objective was to
reach Kashmir, come what may.
On this particular day, like any other, the Yatra commenced punctually
from Phillaur, Jalandhar, Punjab. Local Congress leaders from the Jalandhar
constituency arrived one by one to meet Rahul Gandhi. The Jalandhar MP,
Santosh Singh Chaudhary, positioned to Rahul’s right, graciously moved to
the left to introduce them. Known for his gentle demeanour, the MP rarely
raised his voice, always wearing a smile on his face. As he approached Rahul,
I affectionately placed my hand on his shoulder and greeted him as ‘Bhaiya’.
‘How are you, Jothi?’ he said, with the same smile on his gentle face.
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he collapsed. Shocked, I attempted to support
him, urgently calling out to Alankar Sawai (Rahul Gandhi’s aide, who
accompanied him throughout the Yatra) for assistance. By then, the MP
seemed to be leaning over, and Alankar rushed over to provide first aid. The
MP’s son, who was in the front row, hurried to the scene. In the middle of the
chaos, I called for an ambulance, bringing the Yatra to a halt, with Rahul also
arriving. Even as the ambulance began its journey carrying him, the tension
lingered. Rahul, concerned, asked, ‘What happened, Jothi?’ I was frozen in
shock, my body trembling, and I stammered, ‘I don’t know if there is life in
him.’ My mind was equally shaken.
A perturbed Rahul, upon spotting Punjab PCC President Raja Warring,
immediately asked him to rush to the hospital and check on him. Upon our
arrival, the sight of his wife embracing his lifeless body, pleading, ‘Do
something. He is still warm,’ was heart-wrenching. A bystander mentioned
that I was the last person he spoke to, and the grieving wife’s eyes turned
towards me. Attempting to console her, I hugged her, but words failed me. Her
body trembled as she returned to her husband, caressing his face, his radiant
expression giving no indication of death. Tearfully, she softly asked, ‘What
were his last words, my daughter?’ I recounted the events, my voice
trembling.
As we left the hospital, the march was cancelled and we headed to our
lodging. Shock had frozen my mind, and my body trembled. Witnessing death
from such proximity weighed heavy.
This experience brought back memories of Ganesan, a dedicated party
worker from Tamil Nadu who had lost his life in a tragic accident months

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earlier during the Yatra. He was hit by a speeding lorry that was trying to
overtake the lorry in front of him. He died fighting for his life in the hospital.
Samuvel, a young man, his fellow companion, who was hit along with him,
survived with a minor head injury. Whenever the Congress party embarked on
a march, Ganesan was a steadfast presence. He earned the affectionate
moniker ‘Yatrai Ganesan’ due to his unwavering commitment to attending
these marches. Carrying a bag brimming with photographs and certificates
from the numerous marches he had participated in, Ganesan had found joy in
showcasing them to every participant, his enthusiasm mirroring that of a child.
Remarkably, he extended his camaraderie even to those who couldn’t
comprehend Tamil, passionately explaining and making the experience
relatable to everyone. Ganesan was a familiar face to all on the march,
creating a sense of camaraderie that transcended language barriers. The
poignant moment of laying a wreath on his lifeless body in his hometown left
a lasting impact on everyone. His absence had left a void in the Yatra forever!
As the march from Haryana crossed the Delhi border in the morning, the
challenges of managing security became glaringly apparent. The usual
excitement of the crowd had peaked, making them all look possessed to meet
and embrace Rahul. That, along with no proper security arrangements,
made the situation look dire. Even the route for Rahul’s procession to the
stage, where the national flag would be handed over, remained undecided until
his arrival. The police force, tasked with handling such a vast crowd,
displayed a lack of interest in security duties. As the crowd continued to swell,
the Delhi Police eventually abandoned the responsibility, leaving the entire
security burden to the CRPF. The CPRF mandate was solely Rahul Gandhi’s
security, and they were not equipped to manage the surging tide of people.
There were no safety rings, no ropes. The crowd pressed in around Rahul
Gandhi, creating an even more potentially hazardous situation.
Despite the lack of proper control measures, the CRPF personnel remained
vigilant, dedicating themselves to their duty with 200 per cent commitment.
The crowd reached a point dangerously close to the boundary they had set,
where walking and standing were not allowed. Rahul Gandhi found himself
pushing through the dense mass of people. At one juncture, it seemed that
nothing could be done to avert a chaotic situation. I, too, found myself
fatigued, navigating through a sea of people, and was genuinely concerned
that another fall might be imminent, securing my place in heaven in the next
few minutes. I had already escaped one such peril, thanks to Byju, who, in a
fleeting moment, shielded me from a crowd rushing forward. The prospect of

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a stampede loomed large, making it seemingly impossible to reach the Red
Fort. However, as always, Rahul’s indomitable determination and courage
prevailed, and the march reached the Red Fort as planned. His impassioned
speech at the Red Fort undoubtedly became one of the defining moments of
the entire march.
Nature graced us throughout the Yatra, reaching the pinnacle of beauty in
Kashmir. Contrary to earlier fears of bone-chilling temperatures at minus 10
degrees, the cold was more bearable at only minus 1 or 2 degrees. The nights
were a bit chilly, but by then our bodies had adapted to everything, from knee
pain to the cold. The winter clothes purchased for the severe cold were
peacefully resting in their boxes! The snow-covered road had been cleared for
walking, and the snowfall on both sides created a picturesque yet poignant
scene. In this land of pristine beauty, the presence of machine guns, always
vigilant and directed at unsuspecting individuals, added a layer of heaviness to
the mind—a sight unparalleled in any other segment of the Yatra, burdened by
the weight of history.
Even before the Yatra officially commenced, crowds began descending on
the slopes flanking both sides of the road. Within moments, thousands of
people adorned in traditional Kashmiri attire congregated along the route. The
unanticipated turnout left the police, unprepared for such a reception, standing
still. It is no wonder that the inhabitants of this heavenly realm, yearning for
love for half a century, greeted us with open hearts and bouquets of flowers,
eager to witness the angel who had been spreading love throughout the
country.
I struggled to comprehend the police’s assertion that there might be
grenade threats, jeopardizing our safety. Yet, I pondered, wasn’t it more
crucial there than anywhere else to traverse the wounded land and sow the
seeds of love and hope along the way? My heart fervently questioned this,
steadfast in the belief that these seeds would one day blossom into flowers of
peace in the scarred terrain of Kashmir. This man, Rahul, had traversed on
foot from Kanyakumari to Kashmir precisely to instil such faith and love.
Despite numerous attempts to halt the march, he refused to yield. The march
pressed on the following day, with a surge of people breaking through security
barricades to draw closer to him. Everywhere, there was an inundation of love
and the glow of hope.
He was love personified. As I observed, a sense of trepidation lingered,
watching him embrace a fearless compassion and grace, reaching out to all
who sought him. Yet, our concern for his and Priyanka’s safety weighed on us

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heavily. In that moment, it dawned upon me that there was something more
than just love and compassion actively guiding him. The nature of this force
eluded my understanding. The Tricolour, our national flag, entrusted to his
safekeeping in Kanyakumari, was unfurled proudly at Lal Chowk. In that
moment, the trials and tribulations we had endured seemed to dissipate into
the background. A profound joy and celebration overcame us, shared
collectively. Despite the stringent security measures, the streets themselves
were alive with festivity, and Kashmir joined us in rapture.
The following morning a miraculous event unfolded—snowfall in Kashmir
during the rally. The landscape transformed into a poetic spectacle, a white
paradise where the snow adorned everything. As Rahul commenced his
speech, expectations of a triumphant celebration for this historic event were
palpable. However, he unexpectedly delved into the narrative of his blood-
stained, painful encounters with violence, delivering his words in a soft voice.
A stunned silence enveloped the crowd. Standing among a group of women,
we instinctively embraced Priyanka, who was nearby. Tears streamed down
our faces as the profound gravity of the moment permeated our consciousness.
In that instant, it became clear that Rahul had evolved into an ambassador
of love, determined to ensure that the bloodshed in his life would not be
replicated in anyone else’s. As he uttered the poignant words, ‘Gandhi ji
taught me, if you want to live, then live without fear, else no need to live. So I
have given this chance to them to change my T-shirt colour—let it be red.’ A
profound tremor resonated through the minds of those present. I stood there,
unable to recover from the shock, witnessing the sacrifice driven by a love
and compassion that transcended everything else!

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SECTION III

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 Bharat Jodo Yatra and Organizational
Ethics
Prof. Ajay Gudavarthy

M
oral philosopher Peter Singer made a distinction between two types of
ethics—obligatory and supererogatory. The first is an act where one is
obligated to work because of a prior commitment or promise. In contrast,
supererogatory ethics is when one demonstrates extra commitment, even
though there is nothing compelling to do so. To explain further, charity for a
cause is marked as supererogatory, while clocking a fixed number of hours at
work is obligatory. Singer then goes on to argue that under certain conditions
of duress and affluence, certain kinds of donation and charity become
obligatory and not supererogatory.
Much of the Congress party’s organizational culture (exemplified by the
attitude of its workers and leaders) is a curious mix of both supererogatory
and obligatory. On the one hand, they themselves see their contribution as a
work of generosity and charity. But on the other hand, they expect quick
rewards and returns. Plus, in the absence of proper organizational norms, rules
of promotion and due recognition, wide-scale networking, aligning to a
patronage network and going through the motions (participating in routine
protests, posts on social media and other symbolic events) are seen as the only
means of making it count. It is clear to any careful observer that the obligatory
overwhelms the supererogatory. Consequently, there is a palpable trust deficit
between party co-workers. Every worthwhile contribution (supererogatory) is
seen as an existential threat to one’s own growth. That is why party workers
make efforts to not only make themselves visible, but also to make others
invisible and discredited. These everyday machinations seem to have got
institutionalized beyond redemption. Because there is nothing to hold the
party cadre together, they do not see politics as a collective journey.
This acrimonious organizational culture has created an unholy separation
between the social and the political. All organizational work is seen as geared
towards electoral success and therefore any ideological/social work is both
incidental and instrumental. For example, most segments of the Congress’s

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organization, from its students’ body (the NSUI) and its youth wing to the
mahila wing (women’s wing) and others, are all geared towards electoral
work. As a result, the Congress abandoned the social/cultural field that the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) wholly occupied. The correlation
between this separation and the crisis (both electoral and ideological) that the
Congress is facing lies beyond the scope of this article.
But suffice it to say that reflecting on the Gandhian strategy during the
anticolonial struggle will offer a sharp contrast. M.K. Gandhi had the
unenviable task of transforming social hierarchies and discrimination within
while forging the same contending social groups into a collective against the
British. Gandhi devised a two-pronged strategy of ‘constructive work’ and
‘political work’. The constructive work consisted of social work based on
mutuality and cooperation to negotiate questions of caste, class and gender.
For instance, to deal with class inequalities, Gandhi suggested the principle of
trusteeship, where the wealthy are the custodians and not owners of the
wealth. To deal with caste, Gandhi took up the task of spiritualizing menial
caste occupations that caste Hindus should feel grateful and obliged for. On
the other hand, political work was directly aimed against the British based on
civil disobedience and non-cooperation. Without personalizing the struggle
against a viceroy or a governor (unlike what the Congress does today), this
strategy worked well as part of the anticolonial struggle.
But post-Independence, the Congress party seems to have been severely
afflicted by this separation between the constructive and political. Its self-
inflicted wound ensured it could no longer complement its political/electoral
strategies with social/cultural mobilizations. This was because the
ideological/social aspects of politics were seen as less significant and
rewarding. Many of the Congress’s organizational strengths, its structure and
culture became its nemesis over the course of time. The strength of the
Congress party was its ‘umbrella’ character, where it could accommodate
diverse and conflicting political visions. This helped the Congress evolve into
the ‘Congress System’ that paid it rich electoral dividends. But in time, when
ideological clarity began to blur and the anticolonial inspiration and idealism
waned, the accommodative character degenerated. Instead, the party
organization descended into anarchy, indiscipline and a space of personalized
networks. Contending visions became contentious factions vying for power
and power over the party organization. The Congress’s organization today is
marked by pragmatic machinations and transactional quid pro quo. With the
burden of such a culture, new leadership emerged for its ability to manage

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pragmatic calculations, which, in turn, changed its social character to one of
middlemen and networkers. With the additional burden of money and muscle
in electoral politics, the Congress outsourced its leadership to those who were
already rich or locally wielded power. Today, when the Congress is staring at a
steep ideological challenge, its leaders are on a weak wicket. In fact, most
leaders do not understand the place of ideology and policy in politics.
It is against this backdrop that one needs to assess the role and impact of
the Bharat Jodo Yatra. For a long time, it seems that Rahul Gandhi has been
acutely aware of the Congress party’s historical trajectory. In a conversation
with a friend, who seems to have raised this question on the Congress’s
organizational culture, Rahul Gandhi reportedly mused out loud how he could
repair an air conditioner that was running! His repeated interventions to stem
infighting and indiscipline also throw light on his deep dissatisfaction with the
state of affairs within. Did this understanding get reflected in the messaging of
the BJY and does it have the potential to turn things around for the Congress
party?
In the course of my own interactions with Congress leaders at various
levels, I found it amusing that many continue to think that Rahul Gandhi takes
too ‘radical’ and too ideological positions to be electorally effective. Plain-
speaking by him is perceived as not theatrical enough to influence electoral
success. And his repeated experiments to reform the organization from within
are stymied.
Therefore, the BJY has to be seen as internally confronting this kind of
fossilized understanding. Pragmatic machinations cannot be ruled out, but
they alone cannot win elections. In contrast to this, in the course of my
interaction with an RSS pracharak, I asked how he would respond to an
electoral defeat of the BJP in 2024, and he said his work would continue as
usual. Part of the strength of the BJP’s electoral success comes from it being
backed by ostensibly non-electoral mobilization around the year. This creates
a porous relationship between social/cultural and electoral/political work. It
gives a sense of going beyond instrumental reasoning and immediacy of
results. The Congress has no such ideological and social work to back its
electoral mobilization.
After the electoral success in the Karnataka assembly elections, the BJY
temporarily quelled such doubts. It provided a fresh relief to not only
Congress party workers, but also to various sections of the society, including
India’s religious minorities. In a context where the BJP partially succeeded in
building a narrative of no alternatives and a ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’, the BJY

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demonstrated the possibility of the alternative. Under conditions of hysteria
and propaganda, even Congress workers began to buy into the argument that
the BJP under Modi was infallible. They bought into such an argument
because they saw the process purely through an electoral lens. The fact that
much of the BJP’s victory was also due to electoral engineering and not
necessarily uncontested social consent was lost on many, including many
Congress party workers. In such a context, the BJY demonstrated there is
space for an alternative. After all, the struggle is much larger, and electoral
battles are only part of that larger struggle. The BJY brought back the big
picture into focus and put into proportion the success story of Prime Minister
Modi and his entourage. And when the Congress again ignored mass
ideological and social work (as it did before the 2023 assembly elections,
relying only on the mechanics of electioneering), it lost again. That way,
Rahul Gandhi’s instincts to spearhead ideological work are correct. The BJY
was step one (which yielded success). If the Congress wants to keep tasting
success, it follows that it needs to escalate ideological and social work (not as
periodic events but consistently and patiently).

From a Party to a Movement

In early 2019, I had written about the need for the Congress to shift gears
from being a political party to being a movement that could mobilize a
counter-narrative beyond immediate electoral calculations. A movement-type
mobilization demonstrates a different kind of resolve and purpose. It is
invested in deep commitment, and the BJY came to precisely reflect this kind
of resolve in the energies it galvanized. The sheer prospect of walking for
close to 4,000 kilometres symbolized the gravity of the situation and the
commitment to listen and learn from common people. Mancur Olson, in his
work The Logic of Collective Action, suggests that collective action always
requires intangible factors more than cost–benefit reasoning. Olson asked why
workers joined a struggle for better wages even when they knew that if better
wages were granted, everyone would benefit, irrespective of the fact that he or
she had joined the movement. This is why he says there needs to be something
more—a ‘zing’ thing—beyond rational calculations.
The BJY brought this forth. It raised an abstract idea of love that needs to
be foregrounded in the context of a growing sense of depravity and hate. This
brought immediate relief to scores of religious minorities and social activists
who felt targeted. It was, at least to begin with, a sincere attempt to change the

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narrative and remind us of a different sensibility we once had. In spite of poor
media coverage, the BJY grabbed eyeballs. It created excitement as to whether
or not it would succeed in creating a new pan-India mood. Most of the
response was spontaneous, beyond what was organized by the Congress party
(for which it had to specially deploy select Congress stakeholders in each state
to reach out to non-political forces. While these select stakeholders were
successful beyond their own expectations, such as in Kerala, Maharashtra,
Telangana, Karnataka and Rajasthan, this shows that the Congress
organization as a whole was not organically connected to mass movements
and aligned forces). Young Congress workers who took part in various
segments were themselves pleasantly surprised by the way people came
forward without being mobilized. This undoubtedly had an energizing effect
on the party and the workers.
It is this spirit and promise of the BJY that was channelized in the electoral
mobilization by non-political/social and cultural organizations in Karnataka.
Under the ‘Eddelu Karnataka (Wake Up Karnataka)’ movement, close to a
hundred social organizations came together to mobilize popular dissent
against the BJP. They did not ask the voters to vote for the Congress, but
reminded them of the consequences of voting for the BJP. The Congress was
the default beneficiary. These organizations worked independent of the
Congress. Perhaps in a first-of-its-kind experiment, social activists influenced
electoral politics and its outcome. It closed the gap between the social and the
political, once again reminding us of the necessity to back political work with
a ‘constructive programme’ and challenging the perceived wisdom that social-
normative calls for love or justice have no electoral impact. Here was a clear
case where it did have a message, converted into organizational work and
linked to the grassroots. It was not the social message that was the problem as
much as the ability to convert it into a programme, policy and organizational
vision. What, perhaps, Congress organizations couldn’t do, social activists
did. It is this gap that needs to be narrowed as a follow-up to the BJY.

Future and Follow-Up to the BJY

The strength of the current regime is the way it has projected a universalist
approach to civil solidarity. In making a case for ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’,
the RSS–BJP combine not only projected themselves as creating new
nationalist unity, but in the process more effectively replicated the traditional
Congress’s ‘politics of accommodation’. It has given greater representation to

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smaller sub-castes within the Dalits and the Other Backward Castes, and made
a stronger pitch for social justice. Similarly, although the ‘Nehruvian
Consensus’ created a progressive language, it offered only limited social
mobility and transformation. The BJP has exploited that limitation to push for
more conservative politics (socially and culturally), but in the name of radical
change (political accommodation and welfarism). Rahul Gandhi has called
their bluff in consistently arguing for two Indias—one for the rich marked by
crony capitalism and one for the poor. It is a replay of an old tension referred
to as Bharat-versus-India. Rahul Gandhi has projected a left-of-centre politics,
which was the need of the hour. In fact, the Indian National Developmental
Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) became a possibility because Rahul could project
an image beyond electoral calculations and cost–benefit analysis. The BJY, in
many ways, was a testimony to this. Rahul Gandhi looks more determined and
charged up in his fight for a larger cause than in power mongering. This is
dialectics of history at its best. But its gravest challenge is to translate it into
everyday organizational ethics. This is certainly a long-drawn struggle that the
Congress should invest in if it’s to fight for an alternative idea of India.
In an earlier experiment of forging the National Advisory Council (NAC)
under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from
2004 to 2014, the Congress attempted a progressive social legislation.
Inclusive policies such as the right to employment were the reason the
Congress came back to power in 2009. It was again with the help of the role
of social activists in the NAC. However, in spite of successful social policies,
this vision did not get reflected in the Congress party’s working. Its cadre, and
local and regional leaders did not know how to own this vision. This inability
to translate a progressive vision into the party’s organizational culture was
partly responsible for the electoral results in 2014. Ironically, Indians did not
identify Congress workers with Congress policies.
It was in this context that I remember being part of a meeting at the Rajiv
Gandhi Foundation to explore the possibility of helping Congress leaders with
‘political classes’ about the party’s policies. It was already identified that this
inability to inspire organizations with the party’s social vision was a major
cause of the 2014 electoral debacle. Many of us in that meeting opined that
conducting classes for public representatives might not be the most effective
way to instil a social vision (India’s political class might not inspire a vision).
It will require a different kind of effort (which fructified in the BJY). The
NAC was a top-down experiment that brought welfare and concrete policy
outcomes; the BJY is a bottom-up experiment, but has no policy outcomes.

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 If the Congress party plans to organize BJY 2.0, it will have to concretize
its social vision into identifiable policy outcomes. It is around these policy
promises formulated through interactions with the common people that the
Congress should go on to contest in the 2024 general elections. BJY 2.0
should also focus on not only interacting with the common people, but also
institutionalizing the modalities of those interactions into its organizational
ethics. It should be as much about educating its own cadre as about bringing
them closer to local social activists. These interactions could prove to be
pretty effective in creating the new organizational ethics of working for a
larger cause, putting cause over petty calculations, putting party above
networking, and fighting elections for a social cause and not bereft of it.
Congress organizations should be convinced that over a period of time,
elections can also be won on the basis of a vision and ideas and idealism, and
not just around electoral engineering, however important that might be. The
Congress party could also toy with the idea of opening up its doors to include
more activists in its own rank and file. And, most importantly, the Congress
party needs to front-end a new generation of leaders to roll out a galaxy of
ideological/social programmes to directly counter the RSS–BJP. For this the
Congress party will have to show even more resolve to walk the talk. Given
his commitment to ideological issues and reforming the party organization,
Rahul Gandhi has a special role in fructifying this.
In my routine interactions with social activists, the question that keeps
coming back is: Will the Congress make a difference if it comes to power in
2024? Will it undo the damage done to institutions and on the policy front
over the past ten years? Or will it reach a compromise with the new situation
it will encounter? These are grave doubts that the Congress will have to
address at some point. Common people and social activists will have to be
convinced that it will not be business as usual. The current polarized situation
will create new challenges in governance. It cannot be based on routinized
modalities. This is where the Congress’s organizations will have to play a
more coordinated role. In a polarized context, the Congress has to emerge as
the default choice of those in disagreement with the current situation. This
cannot happen unless Congress organizations look more trustworthy and
ideologically oriented. It will further require ideology to be converted into
common people’s cultural idiom.
Finally, 2024 will be different because it calls for work round the clock and
not six months before the elections. For this the Congress needs a cadre
prepared for such ordeals. The BJY has created just the right conditions for

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such a transition, but it will not happen on its own. This transition cannot
happen by 2024, but setting things in motion too will have a great impact.
Civility, respect for institutions and being dialogic and prepared to accept
criticisms have been the long-standing strengths of the Congress party. It is
this latent strength that stands in contrast to right-wing hubris, and this will
offer an opening to connect to a more activist-oriented aptitude.
The current challenge cannot be met with wheeler-dealer networks. This
situation demands those who can work before thinking of rewards. The BJY
and Rahul Gandhi’s persona have inspired some degree of trust in this
direction. There seems ample scope to recruit new voices that can transform
the organizations that work independently and beyond electoral calculations.
Elections will have to be seen as an extension and connected to constructive
work, and not as an end in itself. The BJY has also brought in the ethic of
listening and learning, which should translate to a constant critical feedback
mechanism. For this, various levels of functioning will have to find a purpose
at their own level of working, rather than look up for validation. These
experiments could well be on the agenda for BJY 2.0.
The Congress party has a great historical task for not just its own revival,
but for the very survival of democratic practices. It needs to aim for an
internal organizational transformation, even as it has the pressing task of
social change and electoral victories. This by no means is easy, but if there is a
conscious effort to connect them, there is no reason why it should not be
realized in due course.

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 A Gangotri of New India
Salman Khurshid

L
ong marches have always had a special place in history. Mahatma
Gandhi’s Dandi March and Mao’s Long March are both examples of a
disruptive political strategy that challenged the status quo. Even the Bharatiya
Janata Party under L.K. Advani resorted to the Rath Yatra and numerous Shila
yatras in the build-up to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Similarly, former
Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar did the Bhondsi Yatra and Digvijaya Singh
spearheaded the Narmada Yatra. All of these were smaller in scale, but had a
huge impact on reshaping the narrative. Yet for the most part, dharnas
(protests), pradarshans (demonstrations) and rail rokos (blocking trains) are
the more prevalent forms of political campaigns in contemporary India. So
when the Rahul Gandhi–led Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra was
first announced, there was a general sense of disbelief at how such a vast
distance could be traversed in the time proposed and how the logistics would
be managed (especially given the false notions that the BJP has deliberately
fomented about the Congress party).
Yet, since the Yatra’s flag-off moment, the tempo and scale only kept
growing. With remarkable determination, the Yatra relentlessly proceeded day
after day with little rest or halt. Rahul himself faced tremendous difficulties
because of an old muscle injury. But he didn’t let that stop or slow him down,
and steadfastly pushed on. It is in large part due to his incredible mental and
physical stamina that the Yatra eventually succeeded. In fact, he also
displayed tremendous maturity and wisdom in compassionately interacting
with the lakhs of people who excitedly followed, surrounded, reached out to
touch, shook hands with and even took selfies with him. Plus, unlike scripted
public appearances and stock speeches, Rahul interacted freely and intimately
with lakhs of Indians. There are those who describe him as a reluctant
politician. But to them I say that no reluctant politician would so happily
interact with such a vast ocean of people, embracing them as his family and
the land as his home. Rahul did, and also made an entire new generation of
Congresspersons bond with India, like India’s founders once did. It is only
thanks to Rahul that today the Congress boasts a veritable army of patriots

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who not only love India but also deeply understand it. No other leader in
living memory has led so many on a new path through personal example.
Unlike previous yatras, which were directed at a cause or aspiration for
one specific section of society, the Bharat Jodo Yatra was unique in that it
specifically strived to bring together all of India’s diversities in harmony and
camaraderie. We saw women, children, youth, sportspersons, professionals,
homemakers, the infirm—irrespective of caste, creed, class or ideological
inclination. Apart from a generic appeal, the Congress party did not
specifically solicit anyone’s participation. Yet lakhs of Indians spontaneously
came out to walk a few steps with us or just greet us with flowers and give us
their favourite food items. This tremendous outpouring of love was a constant
balm to the yatris’ blistered soles, aching muscles and fatigued bodies. The
people strengthened our spirits day after day, and yatri after yatri spoke about
the strength they absorbed from the people.
For many (both yatris and bystanders) this was an unforgettable experience
unlike anything so far. Many of us have been in the thick of politics for
decades, but this was something very different. Yes, the Yatra did serve a
political function. But it was also deeply spiritual in nature. Following
Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings, this exertion of ‘atma bal (soul force)’ was also
forging fresh connections with millions of kindred souls across India. With
every step, the Yatra was not only winning the hearts and minds of ordinary
Indians, but also imprinting itself on the political perceptions of people who
belonged to parties and institutions beyond the contours of the Congress party.
People from across the ideological spectrum joined the Yatra in solidarity with
what we were attempting to do. Many have shed their old antipathies and
begun to look at this new Congress anew. In this sense, the Yatra interestingly
recaptured the centre. I think this is one of its key achievements. Because of
the nature of contemporary politics, there is seldom an opportunity to pursue
causes that go far beyond political differences and be driven by our shared
values (enshrined in the Constitution). The Yatra upheld the notion that
bringing people together does not call for negativing honest differences of
opinion—rather, it seeks coexistence in the people’s and nation’s interest.
In this spirit, ‘Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan (a shop
furthering love in a bazaar of hate)’ should not be understood as fostering
opposing camps among the people. In the Gandhian tradition, mohabbat
(love) is about consciously not seeing anyone as the ‘other’ and, instead,
converting them by example and persuasion. The aspiration is to avoid
creating permanent walls of separation and, instead, create bridges of

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understanding. This is premised on the belief that all humans are essentially
good, but circumstances and conditioning make them take to hate. Rahul
frequently spoke of his tapasya (reflective endeavour) to forgive those who
vilified him and his values.
In India, sacrifice and saintliness (not only as a code of conduct, but as an
act of seeking the truth) have always been held in high regard. Consequently,
Rahul’s avowed normative stance had a dramatic impact, even on the few
detractors who turned up to shout slogans from a distance to register their
presence. Rahul did not ignore or confront them, but waved cheerfully and
blew flying kisses. I imagine this had a disarming effect on those detractors; it
certainly forced many in India to sit up and take notice of this very different
way of tackling hate and toxicity.
This same impact was mirrored in the Kashmir Valley, which gave a warm
response to a son of the soul returning home. In Kashmir, mass leaders pull
crowds of 5,000 to 10,000. Yet, more than 25,000 people turned up on the first
day of the Yatra, and it just kept growing. I think Kashmiris intuitively knew
that the Yatra had come to heal their wounds and spread the message of love
that the Sufis of Kashmir had traditionally imparted and which seemed lost in
the induced pall of violence that had played havoc for several decades. In fact,
braving heavy snow and an overcast sky, several hundred people pushed
through the inclement weather to silently hear Rahul Gandhi speak of his
encounter with tragedies and consciously related to him as he recounted the
dreaded telephone call that brought heartbreaking news twice in his life. I
think many silent prayers were made that day in the hope that such news may
never be repeated for the young people of Kashmir.

The Yatra’s Deeper Purpose

Several states attempted to outperform each other in support of the Yatra, but
the short window we got in western Uttar Pradesh (UP) needs to be especially
mentioned. Crossing over from east Delhi, which had been traumatized by
riots in 2020, the Yatra was met with tremendous enthusiasm, conviction and
zeal. It would not be wrong to say that for a while it seemed as if the
Congress’s years of despondency and defeat were overturned. For those of us
in UP who have to sweat to gather large numbers for political meetings, it was
immensely encouraging to see such massive crowds of people turn up and
enthusiastically walk beside and in the footsteps of the leader.

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 I especially mention the UP experience because it typifies what the Yatra
means for the Congress party. In many ways, the Bharat Jodo Yatra can be
seen as a defining moment for the new Congress. For many years the constant
message we have got from Rahul Gandhi is to change—change in the way we
do politics, change in our social base, change how we view our society,
change in the way we treat our compatriots who are not as advantaged as we
are. Through the Yatra, he made the entire party organization change. After
years of inertia caused by the humdrum of time and routine, something boldly
disruptive and innovative was needed to shake up the party. I think the Yatra
in that sense was the logical conclusion of Rahul’s admirable efforts to reform
the party from within. It was an idea whose time had come, and it drove home
the need for us to change. But the party has its own status quo, and I suspect
—like Mahatma Gandhi had to keep doing with (and through) the Congress—
more such ideologically motivated programmes will be needed.
In making this suggestion, I hark back to what Rahul has long been
advocating—permanent institutional change. Creating new systems that last
the test of time has been the core of his political approach. His experiments
with transforming the student and youth wing; with the primaries; during
many reforms when he was party president; and with the Yatra keep
reinforcing his focus on professionalizing the Congress party. The Yatra
played a crucial role in precipitating change through disruption. Perhaps
another Yatra (from west to east) may add to this disruption and tempo. But
the lasting outcome of the Yatra is to institutionalize changes. Every decision-
making body (at different levels), from the Congress Working Committee to
the Pradesh Congress Committee to the district, block and booth committees,
needs to completely recalibrate their way of functioning. Like during the
freedom struggle, we face the full force of the State. Plus, there are major
sociocultural regressions in the nation that won’t be resolved overnight. Yet,
the Congress party culture is still limited to self-promotion and interpersonal
differences rather than ideological, intellectual and larger issues. Rahul
Gandhi has rightly been impatient with this culture and strived to make the
party more democratic, ideologically sharp and disruptive—all three values
that the Yatra taught us. We have to recognize and accept the emergence of
disquiet among leaders and party workers who strongly feel the need to do
meaningful work. Without constructively channelizing them in ideological
work that transcends electoral and routine political work (dharnas,
pradarshans, etc.), they will naturally feel adrift. If they are to stay on only for
electoral success and the fruits of governance, eventually they will (as they

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have been) desert the party for other pastures. In that sense, the Yatra showed
us that there was a way to do politics beyond the electoral. And I know for a
fact that many who claim to be close to the leadership were quietly critical of
how radical the Yatra was to their way of thinking and operating. But I feel
this was long needed. Rahul forced the party to take a long, hard look at itself
in the mirror. By personal example, he insisted on ideological integrity and
purity—not just in the rank and file, but even in the upper echelons.
Another key unstated purpose of the Yatra was the theme of ‘Bharat jodo
(unite India)’. It may seem superfluous to the cynical, but it is wrapped in a
deep sense of concern about how our society has been methodically
manipulated to reject the spirit of fraternity and empathy for each other. The
political ambitions of certain groups have sought to interfere with multiple
civilizational strengths of India, whether it be the celebration of unity in
diversity, cosmopolitanism or respect for common humanity. The blind pursuit
of uniformity that we have witnessed these past few years is a direct threat to
the rich diversity of our existence and national experience. And so the Yatra
was needed to signal to India’s vast diversities that we embrace you all as part
of the whole body polity.
But in doing so, the Yatra did not critique, denigrate or hate anyone. ‘Hate
the sin, not the sinner’ has been the Mahatma’s eternal message to humanity.
The Yatra put this into practice. Eschewing any hatred for those who have
imposed regressive ideas on India, the Yatra was a satyagraha to appeal to
their soul about their commitment to each other, and thereby reclaim the
nation’s soul.
Interestingly, I feel that the Yatra unconsciously gave life to the eleven
Gandhian principles that were strictly adhered to in every ashram in every
aspect (although the new-age facilities of food, accommodation and sanitary
arrangements added a modern flavour). One might go so far as to describe the
Yatra as a moving ashram that was not adequately portrayed in the extensive
media coverage. In fact, even though social media captured many aspects of
the Yatra, it could not fully capture the vitality and vibrance of this mobile
ashram. One still had to experience it in flesh and blood—the excitement of
sharing accommodation in the modified dormitories (which were just truck
containers), the intimate act of sharing meals, swapping stories around
evening bonfires, the shared songs in the Yatra, the camaraderie in nursing
each other and the jokes. This is the sort of feeling one has when a movement
is beginning and there is hope for the future. Those of us who have been in
politics for decades felt revitalized by seeing so many young, dynamic and

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ideologically sharp people during the Yatra. The easy mingling of young and
old added to the sense of togetherness. The yatris felt a sense of special
belonging that I hope will be rewarded in myriad ways of involvement and
recognition.
I think this unique ideological and programmatic formulation of the Yatra
was largely because of Rahul. He has always wanted to walk the path less
taken, which is why he keeps experimenting with innovative methods to
connect deeper with the people, whether it be travelling in truck cabins,
spending time with railway coolies, lending a hand to motor mechanics or just
enjoying a meal in a small dhaba. Democracy is about being connected. And
Rahul tried very hard to remain connected to ordinary citizens so he could
share their dreams, aspirations, concerns and fears. In this light, Rudyard
Kipling comes to mind:

If you can walk with the crowd and keep your virtue, or walk
with Kings-nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving
friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too
much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds
worth of distance run-Yours is the earth and everything that’s in
it, And-which is more-you’ll be a man my son.

Then and now, the Yatra is a symbol of hope. On the one hand, it gives hope
to those who are desperate for a Nehruvian India. But it also became a symbol
of hope for the Congress party. It has allowed the party to reoccupy the
political landscape in some measure. And it gave us an opportunity to hear the
wisdom of our people. Many of the learnings from Kanyakumari to Kashmir
were methodically included in the various declarations of the Congress party’s
Raipur session. Respect and consideration for the majority without
marginalizing the minorities is the top challenge of current-day politics.
Balancing affirmative action for the vulnerable and disadvantaged with
meritocracy is another. Using identity for social justice without causing deep
divides between communities is a burning issue that cannot be ignored.
Ultimately, providing a link or bridge between the modern and the past, the
rich and the poor, the upwardly mobile and the stagnant is the immediate job
the Congress party faces.
Long years hence, when people search for defining moments when
communalism and hate were structurally combatted in India, the Bharat Jodo
Yatra will stand out prominently. Both a vision and a tapasya, the Yatra has
laid the foundations of the reconstruction of a better society. And the teeming

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multitudes who joined the Yatra are a testament to the fact that there are many
dreamers and tapasvis. But there is a caution about dreams, like the hope of
eternal youth. Eventually, dreams and hopes do come to fruition. But to truly
make them stand the test of time, the torch needs to be passed on to another
generation, and yet another. Yes, the Yatra’s footprints have been imprinted on
the hearts and minds of Indians. But the Yatra must continue, not just by
winning elections, but by actualizing fundamental changes in India’s
economy, society and politics. I pray we are able to do that, both within and
without.
For my part, I am satisfied with this knowledge—when our children and
grandchildren and great-grandchildren ask us, ‘What did you do to save our
ancient land when it was under attack?’, we can sift through the memories of
the Yatra and proudly say, ‘We were there with Rahul Gandhi at the Gangotri
of new India.’ And where Gangotri has been reached, can Sangam be far
behind?

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 Myth versus Reality
Sandesh Bhandare

I
distinctly recall one sentence from Rahul Gandhi that caught my (and many
in my peer group’s) undivided attention. He unequivocally said, ‘People
may or may not join me, but I will start and complete this Yatra.’ He went on
to assert that while the Bharat Jodo Yatra was being organized by the
Congress party, it belonged to every Indian. To underscore this point, it was
decided that the standard (flag) of the Yatra would not be the party flag but the
Tricolour. This clever reclaiming of nationalism tugged at every Indian’s
patriotism, which is why organized troll armies had to mellow down (after an
initial vicious and underhanded attack on the Yatra and Rahul Gandhi). This
appeal to the nation was widely appreciated, and Indians cutting across caste,
creed, class and gender responded to Rahul Gandhi’s earnest appeal.
In that spirit, Dakshinayan (under the overall stewardship of Dr Ganesh
Devy) worked tirelessly to increase participation from various social
organizations in Maharashtra. Dakshinayan was joined by more than 200 such
social organizations in Maharashtra alone, and many prominent ones
spontaneously did the same across India (including the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti
Sangathan, Ekta Parishad, Lokayat, Swaraj India, Chhatra Bharati, Vidrohi
Sanskrutik Manch, Satyashodhak Vidyarthi Sanghatana and Makam).
Although we didn’t know it at the time, this happened without any central
leadership or coordination. Almost like divine intervention, a hundred flowers
blossomed across India. Since I was crucially involved with Dakshinayan and
am aware of what happened in Maharashtra, I will focus on that process. We
all started working tirelessly to mobilize our respective networks and
appealing to people to join this people’s Yatra. For example, eminent citizens
such as Dr Ganesh Devy, Tushar Gandhi, Medha Patkar, Varsha Deshpande,
Ulka Mahajan, Dhanaji Gurav, Chetan Shinde, Feroze Mithiborwala, Paromita
Goswami, Dr Abhay Shukla, Lalit Babar, Irfan Engineer, Subhash Lomte and
many others organized a number of meetings of eminent citizens in Mumbai,
Pune, Wardha and other places in Maharashtra. The Wardha meeting to many
of us was especially meaningful. After all, this was the sacred ground where
Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Working Committee spearheaded

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numerous programmes that changed India; and it continues to be a hotbed of
political-social churning in Maharashtra’s consciousness. We consciously
borrowed from the Quit India resolution and made it our ideological glue.
Points from it were also proposed as pledges (for ourselves and for the nation
at large) for joining the Yatra. The first point was that the Bharat Jodo Yatra
and everyone who joined it would be stand steadfast against fascism.
Secondly, all those who joined the Yatra would be against ‘Company Raj’
(which we reinterpreted as crony capitalism). The third point, which we
collectively asserted, was that Bharat Jodo did not belong to just one party—
instead it was a mass movement that belonged to the people of India. The last
point may seem counter-intuitive (especially given the Congress party itself
was spearheading the Yatra), but the truth is that civil society was
overwhelmingly wary of the Congress party’s state leadership. Almost
everyone personally knew many leaders, and found them to be conscientious
and committed individuals. But as they say, there’s many a slip between the
cup and the lip. The bitter truth is that the bulk of Maharashtra’s progressive
forces decided to join the Yatra because they had faith in Rahul Gandhi, who
had stayed true all these years despite the darkness and demons facing him.
And even more importantly, all of us are patriots firmly committed to an India
that remains secular, democratic, liberal and socialist. It was therefore on the
basis of the three resolutions, an unspoken faith in Rahul and our love for
India that we issued an appeal to all progressive forces in Maharashtra to join
this dharma yatra.
To operationalize these pledges, we formed eleven civil society working
groups, and coordinators volunteered to steer each group for discussions with
Rahul Gandhi in the fourteen days the Yatra was supposed to be in
Maharashtra. Given our general apathy towards the Congress party’s
organization, we were pleasantly surprised to find many dynamic, idealistic
and sharp Congressmen actively working with us shoulder to shoulder. They
took great pains to take everyone along (which, given civil society’s general
disparateness, was an extremely difficult job to achieve). At the behest of the
All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Maharashtra H.K. Patil
(who Dr Ganesh Devy shared a great personal equation with and minutely
discussed our preparations with every step of the way), Balasaheb Thorat and
Mohan Joshi deputed Hussain Dalwai, Kumar Ketkar and Pushparaj
Deshpande to collaborate with us. After a careful study of Maharashtra’s key
socio-economic and political situation, we consensually narrowed down to the
following issues (and groups)—organized and unorganized labour;

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displacement and migration; minority welfare; the subaltern traditions of
Maharashtra; women and LGBT welfare; denotified and nomadic tribes;
Adivasi issues; farmers’ issues; health; education; Dalit welfare; OBC
welfare; and youth welfare. Each group brought together about ten to fifteen
key stakeholders with extensive networks across the state. Each of these
groups individually prepared a comprehensive compilation of the most
pressing issues facing each sector. They were able to also mobilize more than
200 organizations and movements across the state. This kind of preparatory
work and mobilization was unprecedented. But by the time the Yatra entered
Maharashtra, we were all raring to go.
Late on 7 November (the day of Tripurari Pournima, or the full moon in
the lunar month of Kartik, which is considered to be an especially auspicious
moment in Hinduism), Rahul Gandhi and his fellow yatris entered Deglur (in
Nanded, Maharashtra) carrying torches. The visual of this dramatic entry at
night (at that particular auspicious moment), combined with a night-time
commemorative visit to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and to Guru
Gobind Singh’s final resting place, was electrifying in Maharashtra, which is a
deeply spiritual and emotional state. It sent a powerful message across every
hearth in the state. Even though the national media shamelessly blacked out
the Yatra, the regional media and social media lit up every home with the
lights and heat emanating from the torches of the Yatra. The clever symbolism
of the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s entry had successfully captured Maharashtra’s
attention.
But for those of us who had taken this leap of faith by joining and
mobilizing for the Yatra, the substance was more crucial than the symbolism.
For us, this was an opportunity to not just educate ourselves on Rahul’s
sincerity, but also the Congress’s integrity and ability. After all, what mattered
most to most of us was not a political party, but the defence of the
constitutional values we love. And so I, along with a host of others, carefully
began observing the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
About 4,000 to 5,000 new people from Maharashtra joined the Yatra every
day, so our ranks kept swelling. Without fail, this sea of people (which was
fast becoming an ocean) would start sharp at 6 a.m. with the flag-hoisting. The
Congress Seva Dal would lead the Yatra, proudly holding aloft the Indian flag.
The first part of the day included a brisk walk of about 15 kilometres, after
which it would halt around 10 a.m. (when the sun became unbearable). The
yatris rested until 3 p.m. while Rahul Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh, Jairam
Ramesh, Nana Patole, Ashok Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat and other state

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Congress leaders typically met one or two civil society groups (ranging from
twenty to forty). These conversations were interactive, honest and thought-
provoking. Over and above the fourteen interactions we had proposed, there
were countless other requests from Congress leaders, professional groups and
a host of civil society organizations. Accommodating more than a hundred
requests from competing stakeholders in fourteen days must have been
exceptionally difficult, but the organizers somehow achieved the impossible.
Every single person was accommodated—either in the sitting or walking
interactions.
I myself had the honour of attending two interactions—one was a closed-
door sitting interaction with writers, poets, Sufis and other progressive
thinkers. The other was as a translator for warkaris who walked with Rahul.
The first was formally organized under the aegis of Dakshinayan on 11
November at Kalamnuri. Loosely titled ‘Prabodhanache Ringan (a discussion
about enlightenment)’, Lakshmikant Deshmukh was to discuss progressive
writing as a tool for political mobilization, Pramod Mujumdar was to discuss
the religious traditions of Sufi sects and Bhakti traditions, and Dhanaji Gurav
was to discuss Maharashtra’s cultural traditions as a counter to Hindutva.
More than seventy people, including Datta Bhagat, Kumar Ketkar and Dr
Ganesh Devy attended the meeting. The session lasted about fifty minutes,
and Rahul spoke for just ten. He raised some very important points, but the
one that really stayed with me was this (even though it was a deviation from
the subject of discussion): He said that he had interacted with close to 10,000
young Indians across five states so far, and nearly everybody wanted to pursue
a career in one of these five streams—medicine (mostly as doctors), civil
services, engineering, police and law. He posited that these had limited
avenues, since the supply far outstripped the demand. As a result, traditional
professions that could be massive employment generators were dying out.
Rahul was especially interested in how we could resocialize our youth so they
got productive employment, while helping the nation. But rather than just
musing out loud, he solicited our help in this. He actively charged us with
finding solutions to actualize this grand goal. This was a rather clever thing to
do politically, since he emotionally bound us to him.
In stark contrast, the walking interaction I was privileged to witness was a
very different experience. Even though Rahul was listening and responding to
us, he was also waving at people outside of the Yatra. He was beckoning them
inside, hugging them and letting them take pictures. But we (Vaibhav Shete,
Suhas Phadtare, Nitin Sawant, Ganesh Pawar and I) had a long interaction

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with him starting from 7 a.m. After presenting him with a Lord Vitthal idol
and a book on Wari, we began by reciting Saint Tukaram’s abhang (sonnet),
‘Je ka ranjale ganjale (Those who are oppressed and suffering, the one who
associates with them with empathy is the true saint and true God).’ We went
on to explain that as per Tukaram (and other saints from the common masses),
ritualistic ablutions in holy rivers don’t wash away sins. Instead, it is
necessary to perform good deeds. This tradition was a clear rejection of
superstitions and ritualistic religion, which can be weaponized for making
people subservient. Rahul Gandhi keenly listened to us and understood what
we were alluding to. He beamed when we told him that this particular abhang
was translated by Mahatma Gandhi into English. He happily consented when
we requested him to wear the traditional Gandhi cap. Even though he wanted
us to continue, we took our leave, saying others were waiting for him. With a
disarming smile and a warm handshake, he thanked us and bid us farewell.
In both these interactions, I found Rahul Gandhi quite unlike what he was
in popular perception. He listens carefully and then makes a pithy comment
that compels one to think. This sharp and direct approach Rahul uses is quite a
breath of fresh air.
People could argue that this side of Rahul Gandhi may be limited to
closed-door interactions, but that isn’t true. I observed him in front of a live
audience in Nanded, and it was an experience in itself. The way listeners were
responding to what he was saying suggested that he had touched the
audience’s hearts. Furthermore, unlike the other leaders of the Congress party,
Rahul fiercely takes on Hindutva. For example, on Birsa Munda’s memorial
day (15 November) Rahul bitterly attacked V.D. Savarkar, an RSS ideologue,
for eighteen minutes. Arguing that Birsa Munda eschewed all enticements of
land and money by the colonial government, he said that he steadfastly fought
for the rights of the Adivasi. In stark contrast, he asserted that Savarkar issued
numerous apology letters to the colonial government within six months of his
incarceration and eventually secured a pension from the British government.
Now, one can have different views on this (especially in Maharashtra, where
Savarkar is venerated because he was jailed during the freedom struggle). But
it takes courage to go beyond what’s politically expedient and say what one
believes in, which is what Rahul Gandhi did that day. Similarly, Rahul also
made a sharp contrast between the BJP’s use of vanvasi (forest dwellers)
versus Adivasi, to describe the plight of India’s Scheduled Tribes. In very
simple language, he reminisced about how his grandmother (former Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi) had once gifted him a book on India’s tribals. She had

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explained that because tribals were the original dwellers of this country, he
would have to understand the troika of jal, jungle and jameen (water, forest
and land), which is central to tribal lives, to truly understand India. Rahul
explained how ‘Adivasi’ is a term of pride, since it marks them as the original
dwellers, and hence the owners of the country. However, by reducing them to
‘vanvasi’, or mere forest dwellers, the BJP is reducing their birthright and
paving the road for their displacement. Rahul then went on to explain how the
Indian Prime Minister had misused this ontological distinction to
indiscriminately displace tribals from forest lands and distribute tens of
thousands of forests to select crony capitalists. Rahul explained the complex
politics behind the use of vanvasi and its devastating effects in a touching and
frankly very effective manner. So I reiterate—Rahul may not be bombastic or
a performative orator, but he is an effective and sincere one. And unlike what
the media suggests, people do respond to him. I often think that it was not he
who was reduced to a pappu (simpleton) by the BJP, but us, the people of
India.
After the interactions, the Yatra would again resume at about 3 p.m. and
continue until about 7 p.m. every day, when the Congress would organize a
corner meeting with local residents. This entire operation ran like clockwork.
The Congress had a set of doctors and paramedics available on standby. Lalji
Desai, the Seva Dal in-charge, had conducted workshops for yatris to ensure
discipline and timely execution of all the logistics of the Yatra. Separately, the
social media team was working overtime to ensure that everyone who came to
meet Rahul Gandhi was separately interviewed, while interactions (both
sitting and walking) were photographed. The Congress undoubtedly had help
in the form of an external agency named Teen Bandar. This work (like
everything else) should ideally have been done in-house, given it has so many
young, tech-savvy people inside the organization. All of these videos and
photos were uploaded by the end of each day for all of us to access (through a
QR code on a card that we were given). Given the media’s blackout, it
effectively meant that anyone who joined the Yatra or met Rahul Gandhi
would invariably share it on their social media accounts—Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter—and the Yatra would automatically get wider
coverage. Even the logistics of the civil society accommodations were
perfectly organized. Apart from beds, temporary toilets and bathrooms, the
Congress team under Utkarsha Rupwate had even organized volunteers to run
a cloakroom service (so we could deposit our bags for the day’s yatra and
collect them again in the evening, after it was over). To do so for tens of

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thousands of people was no small feat. The operation was so smooth that it
began to raise doubts about whether every other aspect of the Yatra was also
preplanned! I distinctly recall that senior journalists such as Nikhil Wagle and
Hemant Karnik voiced these doubts when I met them in Deglur. But like all of
us, they were astonished at how effectively the Congress organization was
functioning. Was this the same party that the BJP had said would be finished?
Which was trounced so badly in two general elections?
We were all pleasantly surprised at how effectively the Yatra was
functioning. That pleasure was magnified many times over by the
overwhelming response by ordinary people, who stood outside their homes, at
roadside dhabas and by the wayside to welcome the Yatra. One had to be there
to truly understand this profoundly moving experience. Some people sketched
rangolis in front of their houses; others offered aartis (ritual prayers) to not
just Rahul, but also the other yatris; yet others showered us with flowers.
Adivasi tribes such as the Gond, Pawra, Warli and Phase Paradhi danced in
their traditional attire along the route. Schoolchildren even bunked school to
perform dhol-lezim at multiple places. The devout stood by the wayside,
holding the taal mrudung and chanting ‘Dnyanoba Mauli Tukaram’. At
another place, people followed Basavanna, the twelfth-century philosopher
elaborating on democracy at Anubhava Mantapa in Karnataka (the first
religious parliament in the world). Separately, people were re-enacting the
Pandharpur Wari pilgrimage by moving along with the Yatra, singing the
abhangs by saint-poets. Yet others (mostly schoolchildren) were just standing
with hand-drawn placards. I recall one child holding a placard that read:
‘Rahul ji, you are walking for our bright future.’ Similarly, a young girl had
climbed atop a high post, holding a photograph of Babasaheb Ambedkar,
excitedly waving at the yatris. It was like a huge never-ending holiday, and
every aspect of Maharashtra’s culture was represented in those fourteen days.
As an artist, I am constantly looking to capture people’s emotions—in their
eyes and their actions. I tried doing that in my own way during the Yatra. But
the point of mentioning this here is to suggest that I have long felt that a
seasoned and mature political leader also must have that knack. And I believe
Rahul Gandhi does. He would keenly observe people standing on the sides
and invite them to join him. I remember that a group of about fifty children
from Chhatra Bharati had come from Mumbai, Nashik and Ahmednagar to
meet Rahul Gandhi. He not only heard them out while he walked, but also
raised their issues the next day. Rahul did this multiple times during the Yatra.
And when a leader becomes a conduit for the people’s voices and issues, they

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keep flocking to him. I think to a large extent, this was what was happening.
Word was spreading like wildfire that here was this one-shot opportunity to
raise one’s voice, so let’s go. And so they just kept coming.
But while Rahul was the centre of the Yatra, he was also not. Each yatri
was equally the centre of the Yatra. The yatris had their own interactions with
people. Many of them were engaging and interacting with the festivities (for
how else can one even describe what we were witnessing?) and the people.
And some of them kept working while walking and talking with everyone.
Many of us were astounded at how hard some of these young
Congresspersons worked. I recall Pushparaj, Ruchira, Nagorao, Vikram,
Varun, Hrishikesh and so many others, who worked like dynamos without
losing their cool (while they interacted with people within and outside the
Yatra). Only they know how they managed to juggle so much. Meanwhile,
other yatris engaged newcomers like us in different ways. For example,
Sitaram Lamba from Rajasthan would sing a new song every day. One such
song was: ‘We have come to the tune of the heart, we will not rest, we will
embrace the heart.’ These simple words touched the hearts of many listeners,
who enthusiastically joined in. Similarly, Ajay Lallu (the former state
president of Uttar Pradesh), who was also a yatri, would break into hilarious
limericks to entertain us.
I think all of us have a long way to go to fight the many myths that the BJP
has spread to construct a new reality. The fight against these myths, or more
accurately mithyas (lies), can’t be fought with other mithyas. Falsehoods need
to be countered with truth, which is what the Bharat Jodo Yatra started out to
do. I think two key myths that were busted for many of us were about Rahul
as a person and about the Congress party itself. Rahul is exceptionally
compassionate and ideologically sharp. And the Congress party has many
young people who are equally ideological and sharp. So we progressives must
shed our reticence and put our faith in them, for they will undoubtedly serve
both the party and the nation well. The path to reclaim India is arduous, but
there is no other option. This war has to be fought on various levels and if we
are true patriots, we must fight the one within first.

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 Bharat Jodo Yatra: An Expression and a
Game Changer
Darshan Mondkar

‘P
appu is going to walk across India,’ a friend abruptly announced one
day. Being an ardent supporter of the ruling dispensation, he has always
tried to needle me about anything Rahul Gandhi does, and he certainly did not
miss this chance. To be honest, I was quite unaware of what he was talking
about and only vaguely remembered a small news item about Rahul Gandhi’s
walkathon. Such is the state of our media that one of the foremost leaders of
India’s principal Opposition party got only a passing mention. Compelled to
do my own research, I was shocked at what I read. Rahul Gandhi and a band
of Congress leaders were proposing to walk almost 4,000 kilometres from the
southernmost point of India to the northernmost! The Congress party claimed
that the Bharat Jodo Yatra was an attempt to stitch together India’s social
fabric, which was deliberately being torn along communal and divisive fault
lines. It seemed noble enough, but was this feasible?
In fact, given the spate of fake news sweeping across India, my first
thought was that this could be one. Then, after I had verified the veracity of
the news, I assumed that the Yatra would most likely be a motorized one,
interspersed with symbolic walks for photo-ops. Nevertheless, despite my
nagging doubts and suspicions, I tuned into the Yatra’s launch at
Kanyakumari. The flag-off itself was rather bleak and I actually dismissed it
as a dud. I recall thinking what a colossal mistake this was. What was Rahul
even trying to do? How could he possibly try to recreate Mahatma Gandhi’s
march at a time when the reputation of the Mahatma himself was being
publicly shredded by a sustained social media campaign sponsored by the
ruling dispensation?2 It was even embarrassing to see the once-mighty
Congress party reduced to a chaotic circus (for that’s what the Yatra’s launch
looked like to most onlookers, no matter how positively inclined they were to
the party).
But as Rahul trudged through the southern states, support for the Yatra
grew. From the few thousand people who had started the yatra, before one

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knew it, there were lakhs of people following him. The best part about this
was that they were not all from the Congress party. In fact, since I religiously
followed the Yatra’s social media handles, I could spot several civic society
activists I knew and who were at loggerheads with the Congress party when it
was in power. That was the first time I felt that the Yatra was definitely trying
to ‘jodo Bharat (unite India)’, since it was succeeding in its stated aim of
bringing people together.
By the time the Yatra reached Karnataka, several of my friends were
already walking with it in solidarity. As it slowly made its way north, it
seemed like a gentle beast stretching itself after a long hibernation. The
crowds had swelled to lakhs, with people joining the walk impromptu. The
Yatra had almost attained the status of a festival—a Bharat Jodo festival. By
now, many of us were cheering it along on various platforms, some openly
and some with restraint. In my circles at least, the Yatra was forging a bond
and we were impatiently watching as it inched closer to Maharashtra (my
state). By the time it was within grasp, I could barely sit still. I was so excited
that I couldn’t stop myself from joining it!
Which brought me to my first hurdle. The Yatra was going to pass through
Nanded, which is a good sixteen hours’ drive from where I live. The notion of
driving so far was daunting. But if a man was going to walk almost 4,000
kilometres across our nation to just stand against hate and bring us together,
surely I could make a little effort myself? My friend mocked me for daftly
falling for the wily charms of a politician. Others cautioned me, saying, ‘You
are joining the losing side.’
While I have consciously stayed away from any political affiliations, Rahul
was no longer a politician for me. I saw him as a person, with his heart in the
right place and a spirit to back up that. And so, ignoring all the naysayers, I
began making plans to join the Yatra in Nanded the day it entered
Maharashtra.
The next, admittedly tougher, hurdle was my family, especially my mother.
She was mortified at my decision. ‘Rahul Gandhi?’ she asked in disbelief
when I first brought it up. ‘Really? You know what happened with Indira ji?
And with Rajiv Gandhi? The Gandhi family has a history of dangerous deaths.
Are you really sure you want to walk right into a security risk?’ Over the next
few days, she tried her best to discourage me. Her desperate entreaties did not
fall on deaf ears. I must confess that these thoughts gnawed at the back of my
mind. But I kept reminding myself that the risk I would be taking was nothing
in comparison to what Rahul and his compatriots were taking in walking

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across the length of India, with a security cover that was unimpressive and
lacklustre.
And so I announced my intentions to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra on my
social media pages. Backing out from it now was not possible. Meanwhile, I
followed Rahul’s walk towards Maharashtra with astonishment. Despite what
we were all seeing on social media, the mainstream media was as mute as a
graveyard. The media offered little to no coverage of the Yatra and were busy
beaming the randomest topics that did not concern people in the least.
But social media was on fire. The support BJY was getting from all
quarters was astounding. People I knew were not hostile to the Congress were
sharing videos of the Yatra. It had clearly ignited conversations across chai
shops and dinner tables. No matter how hard the media tried, there was a
certain euphoria among the masses. And that was only magnified by stories
coming from the common people who had witnessed the Yatra. They were
genuinely heart-warming.
On the eve of my journey towards Nanded, I got a call from my friend,
Tabu Rao, the wife of a senior Congress leader from Karnataka. She wanted to
know if I was really going to be there for the Yatra and if I would like to walk
beside Rahul Gandhi. Pleasantly surprised but secretly happy, there was no
way I was going to refuse this chance. And so she quickly connected me to
Byju KB, who was Rahul’s man Friday. Byju earnestly assured me that I
would be walking with Rahul on the Yatra and would get a few minutes to talk
to him too.
I was on cloud nine by then, even though I was a bit sceptical about the
whole thing. Was it really that easy to meet Rahul Gandhi? Is he really that
approachable? I was probably just in disbelief, but my mind was abuzz with
questions as I drove feverishly towards Nanded.
Upon reaching the Yatra, I half expected to be left out to dry. But I was
promptly directed towards Pushparaj Deshpande, who was managing the civil
society interactions for the Maharashtra leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Putting
my mind at ease, he took me to rest at one of the camps set up by the
Congress party for participants. They were modest but adequate arrangements.
There were clean and neat mobile toilets set up in vans, and two huge tents—
one for resting and the other for food. But what struck me was how vibrant the
whole place was. It was a vast mobile college on politics and society, and
everyone was animatedly engaged in deep conversations. Anyone could join,
and everyone was just so accommodating of everyone. As I was soaking it all

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in, Pushparaj gently told me, ‘Please rest well. It’s going to be rather hectic.’
But I couldn’t sleep a wink.
I was so excited that I stayed up, keeping the camp’s main entrance within
eyesight so as not to miss the flag-off when the time came. Meanwhile, I
could see Congress volunteers efficiently guiding people for lunch, escorting
people to the resting areas, giving people medical help if they needed and
even singing patriotic songs on a stereo system. I was soon joined by Nagorao
Zapate, whom Pushparaj had deputed to chaperone me. Wondering where
Pushparaj himself was, I saw him at a distance, animatedly engaged in a
discussion with Digvijaya Singh and Jairam Ramesh. I was pleasantly
surprised to see the two senior leaders engaging with him with ease and
warmth, as one does with colleagues joined in a shared enterprise. I then
began spotting other well-known Congress leaders such as Satej Patil and
Kanhaiya Kumar chit-chatting with those who were in the camp. This was the
first time I was seeing them off-screen and they looked so … human. No airs,
no pretensions. Just simple, next-door guys keenly talking to everyone.
Amid all this, Congress volunteers kept moving among all of us, greeting
us warmly and asking if we had eaten or if they could do anything to make us
comfortable. I managed to have short conversations with several Congress
leaders who were kind enough to answer whatever questions I had. Hardly
anyone spoke about politics. Rather, all conversations were related to nation-
building. And many people were genuinely worried about the communal,
casteist, political and patriarchal values that were dividing India. It was really
heartening to see this. At the back of my mind, I kept thinking to myself: Was
this really the Congress party, which the Bharatiya Janata Party kept
tarnishing as elitist and disconnected from the grassroots?
While I was engrossed in this fantastic experience, I felt a tap on my
shoulder and saw Nagorao smiling at me. ‘It’s time,’ he told me quietly. He
escorted me, along with his colleague Hrishikesh Singh, who, on the Congress
party’s behalf, had been managing the civil society arrangements from day
one. We were bundled up in a vehicle and zoomed ahead before the Yatra
began. The plan was to go and stand a bit ahead of the Yatra and then join it as
Rahul approached.
Reaching the designated waiting spot, we waited for the Yatra to join us.
There was a lull in the air, as the sun painted glorious hues of every shade
against the arid Marathwada terrain. Stray villagers waited with anticipation
for the Yatra as children played around. It didn’t seem as if there was a
massive movement just about to hit this quiet Malgudi Days kind of place.

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 Before I knew it, the Yatra came in sight and Vikram Srinivas joined us. He
was supposed to hand-hold me through the entire security cordon and get me
into the inner security circle, where Rahul walked with a select few. ‘Don’t
worry, it will be easy,’ Vikram assured me. Easier said than done! I had to pass
through two security layers before I could finally reach Rahul. Rahul walked
very fast, so the Yatra reached our waiting point quite soon.
But there were several people wanting to spend some time with him. Since
this was the first day of the Yatra in Maharashtra, almost everyone wanted to
make their presence felt. I literally felt dwarfed among the galaxy of well-
known dignitaries. And so we were forced to keep shifting our waiting point
further and further away by a few kilometres, simply because the queue of
people walking with Rahul wasn’t ending.
As the sun slowly began setting, I began to give up. In my mind, I was
already making plans to return the next day and walk way behind in the Yatra,
as was my original plan. But Vikram suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled
me towards the approaching surge. Honestly, having never even been part of a
rally (let alone such a yatra), I was petrified. There were cops everywhere, but
they were outnumbered by the onlookers. There was sloganeering and
cheering and flag-waving. And among all of them was Rahul Gandhi walking
with a determined smile on his face.
As I got through the ropes into the first layer of security, I was frisked
while walking and was given a thumbs-up to proceed to the second layer. I
was running to catch up with Rahul, who had marched ahead by then even as
another security guard decided to check my legs for any hidden weapons. I
almost tripped and fell due to nervousness. But then the stars aligned and
suddenly I was right beside Rahul, just like that, not more than a foot apart.
Rahul smiled warmly and said, ‘Hello.’ My mouth went dry, but I gathered
myself and quickly introduced myself to him. We exchanged brief pleasantries
before the real conversation began.

Rahul: So what made you decide to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra?
Me: Your walk is giving us a lot of hope. It is inspiring. But what do you have
to say to society, about the fear that is being generated?
Rahul: The fear is not in the society—the fear is inside you. Tell me, aren’t
you scared, coming here, walking with me?
Me: Of course I am!

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Rahul: And yet you are here. Because you have conquered the fear inside you.
That’s what everyone has to do. If you are not afraid, they can’t scare you. [At
this juncture, Rahul affectionately put his arm around my shoulder, as if to
give me courage.]
Me: You know, Rahul ji, about 353 girls are going to die when they see you
put your arm around my shoulder.
Rahul: Why? [He asked innocently.]
Me: Because of jealousy.
Rahul: [Bringing me closer.] Really ... Okay, then, let’s give them something
more … [I had a big grin on my face throughout most of the conversation that
followed.)
Me: Why are you walking?
Rahul: Do you know the difference between pooja and tapasya?
Me: Yes, pooja is worship and tapasya is penance.
Rahul: Tapasya comes from the word ‘tapp’, which means heat. When you do
tapasya, you generate heat. The heat that consumes you. It hurts you, it pains
you and then you achieve.
Me: But what do you hope to achieve?
Rahul: Your love, your blessings, our unity.
Me: There could have been other ways.
Rahul: Yes. Sure. But I do not want to achieve anything without putting in an
effort, without doing tapp. Unless it hurts me, pains me, any achievement is
not worth it. This is my tapasya.
Me: And I am sure you will achieve it.
Rahul: One has to do tapasya without expectations, and only then will it be
successful. I don’t know whether I will achieve what I have set out to do, but I
will keep burning myself until I do.
Me: How do we ordinary common folk deal with the hate narrative being
spread?
Rahul: The RSS and BJP are dangerous—they want to control you through
fear. And for fear they use religion. Tell me something, what are you?
Me: I am irreligious.

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Rahul: But you must have been born into some religion, right?
Me: Yes, I am a Hindu by birth.
Rahul: So have you read the Vedas?
Me: No. I haven’t!
Rahul: I have. All of them. Do you think all those who claim they are Hindu
or Sikh or Muslim have really gone through the pain of reading their
respective scriptures?
Me: I hardly think so …
Rahul: So when they suddenly start claiming how proud they are of being
Hindu, on what premise do they base this on?
Me: True …
Rahul: This creation of false pride in you leads to extremism and then the fear
of other religions gives the RSS control over you. Once people start figuring
this out and start becoming humans first, before anything else, we will
overcome the BJP’s line of thought.
Me: Inshallah, we will …
Rahul: [Putting his elbow on my shoulder and coming closer] Are you Hindu
or Muslim? You just said ‘Inshallah’. You told me you are Hindu.
Me: I also said I am irreligious and I don’t think religions make one human
better or different from another. We are all the same.
Rahul: [With a big smile on his face] See, you are already there. That’s how it
should be …
Me: Ha! That’s right!
Rahul: Are you an atheist?
Me: No. I am indifferent.
Rahul: You belong to a special school of thought. Do you believe in rebirth?
Me: Noooo!
Rahul: You know, I asked my Dadi once, ‘What would you like to be
remembered as after you are gone?’ And Dadi said, ‘I don’t. I will be gone.’
You are from her school of thought … religiously speaking.
Me: I am allowed to use this story, right?

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Rahul: That’s up to you. Just keep being human. Mahatma Gandhi travelled
across India. Do you know why he did it?
Me: To fight the British and free our country.
Rahul: No, because he wanted to understand India. India is complex—no two
parts are the same. The problems of people across India are different. Their
aspirations are different. I have to understand it.
Me: So Gandhi walks again in India?
Rahul: Not at all. Don’t even compare. I have no false notions about myself. I
am doing this for myself. This is my tapasya. I have to understand the
diversity of India.
Me: Understandable …
Rahul: When I understand the different aspects of India from the biggest town
to the smallest village, only then will I truly understand the pulse of India.
This is my learning.
Me: And in the process get votes?
Rahul: That is not the reason I am walking, but if yes, why not? First thing I
have to do is finish my tapasya—and I believe I can do it.
Me: I believe you can do it too. We all do. Thank you, Rahul sir, for the time
you gave me and having such an open conversation with me. You are really
very nice to talk to.

Rahul smiled. He has one of the most genuinely affectionate smiles I have
come across.
The dias where he was supposed to give his speech began looming ahead
of us. I was out of words and slowly inched my way backwards and mingled
with the crowd walking behind Rahul. That was the last conversation Rahul
had for the day before he gave his evening speech from the dias. I had got a
good twenty minutes of walking with him, along with a conversation.
Was this the same man that the media kept caricaturing as ‘Pappu’? Who
supposedly watched Pogo and Cartoon Network? Was this the reluctant
politician the BJP made him out to be? The entitled prince who was served
everything on a golden platter? Was this really the same man who had been
constantly maligned over the past decade or so?
Contrary to what people have been made to believe, the person I met was
articulate, well read, polished and genuine. His smile was filled with warmth

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and his eyes oozed empathy.
Rahul came across as easygoing, a great conversationalist, someone you
could talk to, someone who you know will listen to what you have to say
instead of launching into a monologue to impose his ideas on you. I am not
sure if such people win elections. He did not come across as someone
cunning, ruthless, mean and crafty. I can’t be, and wouldn’t be, around such a
person. But Rahul I would hug any time again.
I had gone to the Bharat Jodo Yatra to take part in an event attempting to
bring India together. Rahul, by his own admission, was doing this to discover
India first-hand. I came back discovering myself anew.
I came back inspired by this charming person, who taught me to put my
country ahead of all petty politics, ahead of any leader or party. He taught me
to stand up for a cause and not for a particular individual.
I would really like to see Rahul Gandhi succeed. But more than that, I
would like India to succeed. An India where unity in diversity thrives, where
‘sarva dharma samabhaav’ thrives. Where equality, justice, liberty and
fairness are enshrined in its constitutional values. Where we can all live as one
family irrespective of our differences. Where we can build such strong bonds
of love among ourselves that no divisive force can pull us apart again …
Where ‘Bharat Jodo’ will be a continuous and ongoing process of
inaugurating more and more, with ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’ in all our hearts.

2 Salil Tripathi, ‘Criticisms of Gandhi Are Often Petty and Miss the Basic
Point’, The Mint, 2 October 2019,
https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/criticisms-of-gandhi-are-
often-petty-and-miss-the-basic-point-11570034553284.html; ‘Why
India’s Hindu Hardliners Want to Sideline Mahatma Gandhi’, BBC
News, 20 January 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-
38794202

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 Three Reflections on the Bharat Jodo
Yatra
Dr G.N. Devy

Before the Yatra Began: Why Jodo Bharat?

Y
usuf Meherally was not even forty when he wrote and circulated the
booklet titled ‘Quit India’ in August 1942. By then he had been
imprisoned several times for espousing independence. He had also been the
youngest mayor of Bombay (now Mumbai) and had become immensely
popular for his administrative efficiency and welfare measures. Incidentally, it
was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who had thought of nominating the youthful
Yusuf as a candidate for the mayoral elections. On 14 July, a meeting of the
Congress was held at Wardha, in which four resolutions were passed: 1. An
immediate end to British colonial rule over India. 2. Freeing India’s
declaration of commitment to defend itself from all types of fascism and
imperialism. 3. After the British withdrawal, a provisional government of
India to be formed. 4. A civil disobedience movement against British rule.
Before giving effect to the first resolution, a name reflecting the spirit of the
resolutions had to be given to the movement envisioned in the fourth
resolution. In preference over all other suggestions presented in the discussion
about the name, Yusuf Meherally’s suggestion to call it the ‘Quit India’
agitation received Gandhi’s approval.
The movement was launched on 8 August 1942, and was brutally
suppressed by the colonial government. Around one lakh people were
arrested, many were lathi-charged, huge fines were imposed and the Indian
National Congress (INC) was declared an unlawful association. Almost the
entire leadership of the INC was arrested without any trial within hours of
Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Do or Die’ speech. The rest is history. The ‘Quit India’
title found echoes in millions of hearts. People translated the phrase into their
own languages. In Marathi it transformed into ‘Chale jaav’—get lost. The
popular Hindi version was ‘Chhodo Bharat’—leave India. The intent was the

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same, the determination was equally strong, whether in Tamil, Assamiya or
Gujarati. Everyone knew ‘enough was enough’.
‘Chhodo Bharat’ quite rhymes with ‘Jodo Bharat’, but it is not just the
rhyme or the rhythm that makes the two so akin. There are far more important
reasons for looking at ‘Jodo Bharat’ as ‘Chhodo Bharat 2’. As the movement
unfolds with its immense possibilities, the slogan may eventually get
translated into many languages and may become ‘Connect India’ in English,
‘Samparkisalu Bharata’ in Kannada, ‘Inaikka Natu’ in Tamil, ‘Desh Jodishu’
in Gujarati and many other varieties in many other languages. Despite the
diversity, the spirit of the movement will be the same—that the union of states
that is India will survive only if diversities are respected, that we are one
because we are many. ‘Jodo Bharat’ is, therefore, a movement to remind
people that we are a nation because we are founded upon the Constitution that
defines us as a union of states—geographically as well as ‘mental states’,
people with many different cultural practices, theological affiliations and
linguistic identities. In simple words, the objective of the Innaika Natu or
Desh Jodishu movement was to connect the people back with the
Constitution, to bridge the emotional divide between the idea of the republic
and the people, whose minds had been bombarded with divisive sentiment.
The Jodo Bharat movement, like Chhodo Bharat, was about all Indians—
not just city dwellers, not just taxpayers, not just productive agers, not just
voters. It was about all Indians regardless of their age, gender, caste, religion
and economic status. It was also about the India that had been and the India
that people wanted to see in future as a civilized nation—a vibrant democracy
and a federation of states based on mutual respect. In its highest horizon of
expectations, it was about the idea of India held high by Indians since
civilization sprang in South Asia several millennia ago.
Were the 14 July 1942 resolutions forming the backdrop of the ‘Quit India’
movement to be drafted for the present context, they would read remarkably
similar:

1. An immediate end to communally divisive politics.

2. Twenty-first-century India’s declaration of commitment to defend itself
from all types of fascism and crony capitalism.
3. After the defeat of the communal forces, to form governments that will
provide a healing touch and bring back the rule of law and the primacy of
the Constitution.
4. A civil movement for mutual respect for diversity, federalism and
democracy.

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If these resolutions propelled the ‘Jodo’ Yatra, the nature of the Yatra would
have been significantly different from other yatras organized in recent
decades. And most certainly it would be a complete antithesis of the Rath
Yatra that opened up the path to endless communal discord and majority
nationalism. Sensing the immense possibilities that the Jodo Yatra brought to
our collective conscience, civil society organizations announced their
endorsement and participation in the Yatra during a conclave in Delhi on 22
August. The spirit of the conclave was truly democratic. Tough questions were
posed by the participants to Rahul Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh, and frank
answers were provided by them. Most of the civil society members came from
an anti-Congress background. Yet, the strength of the ‘Jodo’ idea was such
that they, too, felt that the moment had come for the people of India to join
hands with political parties for a united fight against hatred, fascism and
divisive forces. In the joint statement that was subsequently issued by civil
society organizations, it was unequivocably stated, ‘We are distressed by the
ruling party’s abuse of the state agencies for stifling and intimating dissent
and obscuring truth. We are equally alarmed by the active promotion of
division, hatred and violence by the ruling party and its now-normalized
fringe groups. This regime’s sheer indifference to the well-being of the vast
majority of Indians, its manifest incompetence in handling crisis such as the
Covid-19 pandemic, its whimsical proclivity to invent crises such as
demonetization, its complete disregard for the looming challenge of
unemployment and its brazen drive to promote a few cronies while
squandering national assets and plundering natural resources. We affirm that
at this historic juncture, it cannot be business as usual. Anyone who cares for
India, its diversities, its hard-won freedom, its Constitution and for the hope of
a dignified future of our coming generations must stand together united and
resolve to reclaim the republic.’
It was also decided that the Jodo Yatra would have the national flag as its
single symbol and that it wouldn’t display any sectarian symbols or party
banners. It was also clearly stated that it wouldn’t promote any specific party
or political formation. And finally the Yatra would devote itself to listening to
people, understanding their dreams for the future, gathering and celebrating
their memories of Indian independence and assuring each other that people,
indeed, could raise their voices when they were fearlessly determined to do
so. The Yatra was to dispel fear and make Indians believe that India belonged
to them, irrespective of who they were and from where they came in the long
past of the country.

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 Although it was not a stated objective at the time, the Jodo andolan serves
as a tribute to those who contributed to making Indians a tolerant people, who
dreamt of the idea of freedom and gave their everything for its realization,
who sacrificed their lives so that Indians could live as equal and free citizens.
In that sense, the Bharat Jodo Yatra was a ‘freedom’ movement, one that had
to be launched in a country once freed from the colonial masters. If the
Chhodo Bharat movement could do that, the Jodo Bharat movement can do so
now in our present context. Seeing it in any lesser perspective is to misjudge
its purpose and its potential.

Soon after the Yatra Started: Shaping a New Idiom

At a time when the Indian rupee had further taken a tumble, the unseasonal
rains had wreaked havoc on standing crops, the Bilkis Bano case convicts had
appeared on the board at the Supreme Court, the country had slid down
several spaces in a global hunger report, the Congress presidential elections
had come to a boiling point and the Bharat Jodo Yatra had seen a maximum
turnout in an area where it least expected to have mass support, most
television channels were occupied discussing the fight over mad dogs versus
angry citizens. As a fond dog lover, who has had some of the happiest
moments in being with dogs, I fully agree with the argument that their care—
pet or stray—is our responsibility. However, for TV channels to dedicate so
much time to this discussion when even more critical issues face the nation is
either unknowingly or by design a distraction. That many channels sought to
choose to distract the nation is a telling comment on the condition of the
Indian media—either pet or stray.
It is unnecessary to openly articulate that electronic media has become a
solid wall standing between citizens and the government, blocking
information that it is expected to convey to citizens. We no longer have any
reliable and credible way of knowing the TRPs of different channels, but
anecdotal accounts indicate clearly that most people who used to watch TV
news channels have switched to other ways of getting news and information.
Are print media houses any different? The answer is a resounding no. It is
only the small-circulation papers, non-corporate productions, that are, if at all,
spreading ink on paper to serve the age-old purpose for which newspapers
came into existence.
It is also no longer breaking news that not just the media, but most other
pillars of democracy too have come crumbling down during the years that the

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present regime has governed India. This includes not just the institutions that
work for, work with and work at the government. It includes the party system
itself, the absolutely non-negotiable backbone of Indian democracy. The way
the Bharatiya Janata Party has gone out seeking elected representatives in
auction or seduction and through intimidation and fear-mongering shows how
little it cares for the spirit of the Constitution, which provides for elected
representatives to voice citizens’ concerns and interests.1 Once formed and
after the ritual of elections is over, most governments normally tend to forget
that they are there to work for the people and the nation. What is worse is that
people themselves give up on their right to be represented as soon as the ritual
of elections is over. The five-year period between two elections is normally
seen by them as the period of their ‘civil holiday’. Though these are harsh
words, self-blinded citizens and deliberately deaf representatives together
have made a mockery of the spirit of the Constitution. India has arrived at this
situation, and the means of restoring the spirit of true democracy and the spirit
of the Constitution appear to have been sent into a coma during the present
regime.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra started waking people up from this coma-like state.
Though the media tried its utmost to play it down, thousands and thousands
were joining the Yatra voluntarily every day. When it commenced its long
march, most predictions were unfavourable, even in circles that did not
subscribe to the BJP ideology. But, very soon, the Yatra had gathered great
moral capital. People realized that Rahul Gandhi was not what the image-
manufacturing machinery of the BJP had made him out to be. At every step of
the walk, he came through as an extremely perceptive and yet very humane
person, full of care for everyone. A child can climb up on his shoulders and
feel comfortable there; an old woman can hold his hand and walk with him in
dignity; girls can go up close to him and feel the affection of an elder brother.
He has acquired through this entirely public spectacle an image that no
amount of propaganda can bring to anyone else. Whether the media and the
etherized followers of the right-wing ideology admit it or not, today Rahul
Gandhi has become the largest persona, the most spectacular presence in
India’s public space. The moral capital that the Yatra generated was deepened
by the aesthetics of the Yatra, its optics, its grace and its atmosphere of no
hatred.
I saw that a large number of people joining the Yatra consisted of students,
workers and farmers. The largest numbers were of the Other Backward
Classes (OBCs). Besides, civil society activists who had in the past detested

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going with the Congress, and writers, artists, singers and filmmakers were
participating in the Yatra with unprecedented enthusiasm. The Yatra had
generated social capital too. The most significant impact was seen among the
Congress party karyakartas. For years together, they had been asking for
opportunities to converse with the national leadership. The Yatra allowed them
space to rub shoulders with the upper echelons of the Congress party. Their
morale was elevated as never before. All of this generated some political heft
as well. The moral, aesthetic, social and political capital gathered and brought
together by the Yatra was an indication of the seismic shift that the Indian
political arena is going through.
Rahul Gandhi was frank and articulate throughout the Yatra. He made it
clear again and again that the Yatra had nothing to do with the coming state
elections. He repeatedly described it as a ‘tapasya’—a pilgrimage for
introspection and self-searching. He also described it as a journey to know
India intimately. His companions in the Yatra, too, did not talk politics, but
rather of taking politics to a higher plane. They have collectively shaped and
are shaping a new political idiom. It is very far from the language of politics
that is marooned in communalism, divisive rhetoric and innuendoes that
constantly go back to the Partition of India and the birth of Pakistan. The
discourse of the yatris was filled with metaphors of love, concern,
compassion, innocence and self-search.

The Yatra’s Culmination: The Yatra for the Dreams Yet

Not Realized
The year 1942 was a turbulent one. In India, the Muslim League had already
demanded a separate nation for Muslims, and the air was charged with
communalism. The war in Europe had spread to other continents, and the
British wanted India to support their war effort. The Cripps Mission was sent
to India in March 1942. Its demand that India participate in the war caused
tremendous resentment in the country, especially because there was no prior
consultation with Indian leaders. Outside India, the Indian National Army
(INA) was created under Rash Behari Bose and its command handed over to
Subhas Chandra Bose later that year. Hitler’s forces were deep inside Russia.
Erwin Rommel, a decorated general nicknamed ‘Desert Fox’, had trounced
the Allies in the African war theatre. In June 1942, Rommel took tens of
thousands of troops prisoner in Tobruk. Also in June 1942, Hitler ordered a

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massacre in Czechoslovakia’s Lidice village, which was reduced to ashes on
his orders. On 4 July 1942, German bombers attacked an Arctic convoy of the
Allies, code-named PQ17, sending it into such disarray that for weeks
together 100,000 tonnes of cargo, including 210 planes and 3,350 vehicles,
went missing. Within the Congress itself, there were heated debates on the
path ahead, and socialist factions found it necessary to form breakaway
organizations. The scene was very different a decade ago.
In 1931, the frail saint of Sabarmati Ashram had taken out a march from
Ahmedabad to Dandi in an act of quiet defiance that made the world take
notice of the Congress as a force to reckon with. For several years after, the
Congress went from strength to strength, attracting the youth from across
India to its idea of demanding swaraj (self-rule) through a non-
violent struggle. These were precisely the years when fascism was on an
ascendancy in Europe. Hitler had come to power in 1933. For the youth in
India, Germany’s enmity with Britain could have turned them towards
fascism. But that didn’t happen, thanks to Gandhi’s inspirational leadership.
Nobody in India at the time, barring the RSS, was drawn to Hitler’s fascism as
a possible option.2 Not even when differences arose, say between Dr
Ambedkar and Gandhi. Not even for Subhas Chandra Bose, who had very
different ideas from Gandhi about ways of securing Independence, but there
was no racial prejudice in his world view—Muslims, Hindus and Christians
stood shoulder to shoulder in his Azad Hind Fauj, as indeed did men and
women. Their differences notwithstanding, there was an unspoken consensus
among India’s great leaders that a better future for the Indian people could
only lie on the path of democracy.
In 1921, nearly a decade before the Dandi March, the Congress was just
emerging from a bitter factional fight between its moderates and extremists. A
generation of leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin
Chandra Pal had faded out. In 1920, Gandhi had been on a whirlwind tour of
India to get to know people, to connect with them and to bring them into the
Congress fold. In 1921, he was given control of the party. To see the 1942
Quit India/Bharat Chhodo movement in its historical context, it is important to
study the trajectory of the Congress from 1920 to 1942 through 1931.
That context has a close resemblance to the context in which the Bharat
Jodo movement has sprung up. In 2002, the Congress looked far away from
being able to counter the ‘India Shining’ rhetoric of the NDA government. A
decade later, in 2012, a Congress-led UPA government managed to usher in
landmark pieces of legislation on the Right to Education and the Right to

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Information, besides creating an excellent livelihood support programme
through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,
better known as MGNREGA. But again, over the past ten years, India has
undergone a complete transformation. We have a government that cosies up to
a few super-rich business families and has systematically emasculated all
counterbalancing democratic institutions meant to restrain a runaway
executive.3 Mainstream media has been turned into a government lapdog4 and
the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression exists as if only to
remind us of its real-life absence. Central investigative agencies such as the
Enforcement Directorate have been weaponized with laws that give them
unbridled powers to search, seize, arrest and spread fear. The sharp rise in hate
speech and hate crimes directed against minorities since 2014 has no parallel
in India’s history since 1947.
Outside India, war clouds are thickening and the community of nations
seems ill-equipped to effectively check aggressive intent and wars. The rise of
the Taliban in Afghanistan, the popular uprising in Sri Lanka, the tensions in
Ukraine and Gaza, the escalation of tension between India and its neighbours,
and the sharp rise in unemployment and poverty are all factors that bring back
memories of Hitler’s rise to power. The BJP’s unceasing propaganda war5 and
its ritual invocation of a fake militant nationalism also remind us of those
times. The divisions in the Opposition camp and the factionalism within
Opposition parties also make 2022 uncannily similar to conditions in 1942.
The similarities may not be obvious, though. They will become clearer
when we review 2022 from a vantage point in future, when history reassesses
the long march of 2022—the Bharat Jodo Yatra. In 1942, almost immediately
after Gandhi raised his ‘do or die’ slogan, he was arrested and taken to prison
with Kasturba and Mahadev Desai, both of whom died in prison. The Indian
National Congress and three of its regional committees were banned; a
hundred thousand went to jail and nearly as many went underground to
continue the agitation. Five years later, India had gained Independence. In the
same time interval, the fascist regimes in Italy and Germany also crumbled.
By 1947, Mussolini and Hitler, who commanded the world’s most powerful
armed forces in 1942, had become names uttered only in contempt. In 1942,
colonialism was at the zenith of its exploitative might. By 1947, European
colonialism had begun to look like a relic of the medieval Dark Ages.
Not everyone was convinced of Gandhi’s method of resistance even in
1942, even after he had demonstrated what was possible over the previous
decades. How can you fight the military might of the colonial power and

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fascists with non-violence and non-cooperation, his critics would ask. Similar
doubts are being expressed today about the Bharat Jodo Yatra. How will this
long march combat the strong-arm politics of the adversary? How will it stop
the intimidation of citizens through constant surveillance? How will it uproot
fear, falsehood and propaganda? As I’d written earlier, the similarities
between Gandhi’s Bharat Chhodo agitation and the Bharat Jodo Yatra go far
beyond their surface-level attributes. Perhaps the most important feature they
share is the realization that the push for freedom must come from the people,
which, in turn, must necessarily involve their awakening. Implicit in Rahul’s
embrace of the Gandhian method is the conviction that his battle against the
prevailing economic disparities, the communal divide and the collapse of
democratic institutions is also their battle. It is a method designed to make
people fearless and weaken the hold of the State over the minds of people. It
is the method that taught people the strength of self-regulation or swaraj. It
worked then, and beyond all expectations. Why won’t it work now?
Sadly, it will be a miracle if the media ever gives the Yatra its full due.
However, those who participated in it, those who endorsed it and those who
conversed with anyone who participated in it will all begin speaking of
politics and public life in a different accent, an accent that is far removed from
division, scorn and hatred. A new climate of opinion has been created, and I
find a renewed interest in keeping democracy and India’s federal structure and
diversity alive. I have no hesitation in saying that the Yatra has turned a
completely new page in India’s political life, a page that will continue the
story of the freedom struggle and carry it forward to its expected completion
in times to come. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had achieved that effect
once. We are fortunate that what he did was repeated (albeit in a much
different form) before the world’s eyes.

1 ‘Ashamed of BJP Getting Involved in “Sale-Purchase” of MLAs:

Shanta’, The Indian Express, 27 February 2024,
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/ashamed-of-bjp-7206584/
2 Dhirendra K. Jha, ‘Guruji’s Lie’, The Caravan, 1 August 2021,
https://caravanmagazine.in/history/rss-golwalkar-links-nazism
3 A.K. Bhattacharya and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, ‘Contours of Crony
Capitalism in the Modi Raj’, in Angana P. Chatterji, Thomas Blom
Hansen and Christophe Jaffrelot (eds), Majoritarian State: How Hindu
Nationalism Is Changing India, Oxford Academic, 2019, online edition,

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 20 February 2020,
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190078171.003.0011
4 Nikhil Inamdar, ‘How Narendra Modi Has Almost Killed the Indian
Media’, Quartz, 12 March 2019, https://qz.com/india/1570899/how-
narendra-modi-has-almost-killed-indian-media
5 Shivam Vij, ‘What We Don’t Know about the BJP Election Machine’,
The Print, 23 September 2020, https://theprint.in/opinion/what-we-dont-
know-about-bjp-election-machine/509013/

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 Hum Nafrat Ke Bazaar Mein Mohabbat
Ki Dukan
Prof. Mridula Mukherjee and Prof. Aditya Mukherjee

J
awaharlal Nehru, writing from prison, in The Discovery of India, best
summed up the liberating impact of Gandhi ji’s arrival on the Indian scene
in the early twentieth century, when India was suffering from tremendous
colonial oppression. Many elements of a similar kind of oppression we
witness again in India today. Nehru said:

The dominant impulse in India under British rule was that of fear
—pervasive, oppressing, strangling fear; fear of the army, the
police, the wide spread secret service; fear of the official class;
fear of laws meant to suppress and of prison; fear of the
landlord’s agent; fear of the money lender; fear of unemployment
and starvation, which were always on the threshold.
And then Gandhi came … It was against this all-pervading
fear that Gandhi’s quiet and determined voice was raised: Be not
afraid …
He was like a powerful current of fresh air that made us
stretch ourselves and take deep breaths; like a beam of light that
pierced the darkness and removed the scales from our eyes; like a
whirlwind that upset many things, but most of all the working of
people’s minds.

Rahul Gandhi is not Mahatma Gandhi, and he is the first to deny any
comparison. And yet, there is something in the message of Rahul Gandhi’s
Bharat Jodo Yatra of the freshness that Nehru recounts about the advent of
Gandhi. Looking around at the generally self-seeking, sectarian and even
venal nature of politics, Rahul Gandhi’s slogan ‘Do Not Be Afraid’ struck a
new chord. It was also akin to Gandhi ji’s call to shed fear. The act of carrying
out the Yatra was itself a demonstration of fearlessness. In a situation where
almost no street protests were being allowed, to walk on the streets for almost

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4,000 kilometres over a period of more than four months, accompanied by
thousands and sometimes lakhs of people, was an act of daring. It also
somewhere showed the powerlessness of the authorities when faced with huge
numbers of people showing their support. Even though in the beginning there
was a lot of speculation about the BJP governments stopping the Yatra, as
time passed and the Yatra drew out more and more people into the open, and
their enthusiasm and support became palpable, it became more and more
difficult for the governments in question to obstruct it.
The BJY comes across as a massive mass-contact programme of the kind
we are familiar with in the annals of our freedom struggle, but which we have
lost in the marketplace of power politics. The BJY’s focus on communal
harmony, love, social and economic justice, and against inequality and crony
capitalism, are also evocative of a politics based on ideals and not motivated
by an overwhelming hankering for the loaves and fishes of office. It is this
freshness and idealism that proved to be the Pied Piper that pulled young and
old, men and women, abled and disabled, out of their cloisters. The sheer
diversity of those who lined the streets and joined the march, for short
distances and long, was mind-boggling. Schoolchildren joined and played
football with Rahul, young dancers performed while walking along, disabled
ex-servicemen came on their wheelchairs, nurses and doctors and lawyers,
factory workers and landowning and landless agricultural workers, fisherfolk,
handloom workers, homemakers, scholars from India and abroad, writers,
journalists, filmmakers, stand-up comedians, film stars, social activists who
worked with the disadvantaged, all came to see, touch, hug and bless what had
begun to resemble a pilgrimage.
The march usually began very early in the morning, a little after dawn, and
when it reached the northern parts of the country and also hit winter, with late
sunrise and biting cold, it often began when it was still dark. After walking for
three to four hours, the marchers would stop for a long break at a camp, which
consisted of huge tents with mattresses, camp beds and blankets spread out on
the bare ground, and a dining tent where lunch was served. During this break,
which lasted four to five hours, Rahul Gandhi also met local people in groups
—of activists, of professionals, of people pursuing different occupations—and
listened to their suggestions and problems. The march resumed around three
or four in the afternoon, and often ended in a public meeting at the night stop,
which would be attended by thousands. Occasionally, a huge public rally
would be organized by the local political activists, the one in Maharashtra
attracting lakhs of participants. In the national capital, Delhi, huge crowds

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lined the streets and thousands attended the public meeting at the Red Fort. As
the Yatra wound its way through the northern states in December and January,
and it got colder and colder, Rahul Gandhi continued to walk in his trademark
T-shirt without adding another layer, while all those walking with him were
buttoned up in warm jackets, topped by mufflers and caps. This soon became
the talk of the town, and the village, with all kinds of speculation about the
reasons, with Rahul’s cryptic answer to queries that he would wear something
more when he needed to only adding to it. Some unfriendly commentators
even wondered whether he was wearing some warm inners and commented on
his T-shirt collar being buttoned up! Others wondered whether he was a yogi.
Clearly, the media, which started off by studiously and assiduously ignoring
the Yatra, had swallowed the bait! Much later, Rahul Gandhi revealed that he
had taken the decision not to wear anything warm till he could bear it after he
met these very poor children on the Yatra and on holding their hands realized
they were shivering in the early-morning cold because they did not have
enough clothes to wear. It may sound a bit over the top, but one does wonder
if it has any resemblance to Gandhi ji’s giving up his clothes during the Non-
Cooperation Movement when he was in Madurai on 22 September 1921 as
part of his tour of the Madras Presidency, and donning his short dhoti to
identify with the poor.
And when it did become unbearably cold, in Jammu and Kashmir, he did
wear a jacket, a Kashmiri phiran in Srinagar and a cap to the rally, and to play
with his sister in the snow. That the Yatra reached Srinagar was in itself a
miracle, given that even within the organizing team there was scepticism
about being granted permission. But by then the momentum that had been
built up made it difficult, if not impossible, to refuse permission, as it would
mean negative publicity for the government and arouse sympathy for the
yatris. In Kashmir, more than anywhere else in India, where any kind of
political activity had been effectively prevented since the abolition of Article
370 and the division of the state into two and downgrading into union
territories, the BJY provided the first opportunity in almost three-and-a-half
years for people to come out into the streets. And this they did in such huge
numbers that when the Yatra entered the Kashmir Valley, the security
establishment was completely overwhelmed and the security collapsed. In
Srinagar as well, lakhs showed up for the grand finale rally of the Yatra,
braving the snowfall and the cold.
Another aspect of the Yatra was the energizing effect it had on activists of
all hues, and not only those connected with the Congress party. One, a core of

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around 120 mostly young people volunteered to walk the whole length of the
march with Rahul Gandhi. In this group there were many who were already
active in the Congress, but there were others who were not. From all accounts,
it was a transformative experience. They got a real sense of the diversity and
unity of India, the humanity and generosity of the common people despite the
problems they faced—of poverty, unemployment, inadequate provisions for
health, education and housing. But there were also thousands of others, civil
society activists, of a variety of political sympathies, for whom the Yatra
provided an opportunity to break out of the despondency and hopelessness
that had engulfed them due to the regressive political atmosphere, which often
included facing investigations from government agencies, denial of funds,
arrests and prosecution for voicing dissent. They seized the moment, and
especially in many of the states that the Yatra covered, organized a wide
variety of groups—of intellectuals, activists, handloom workers, cultivators,
fisherfolk, students, healthcare workers, women and the specially abled—to
join the Yatra and, where possible, discuss their concerns with Rahul Gandhi
by either joining him in his inner cordon during the walk or during the daily
meetings he had with different groups during lunch break.
The Congress party, too, felt the powerful impact of the Yatra. It activated
the cadre, particularly the youth, who were enthused by having something to
do, which was different from fighting elections. State-level leaders were also
energized, and it even encouraged factional and individual rivalries to be
forgotten to enable a united effort to make the Yatra a success. In Karnataka,
for example, one could not miss rivals Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar
walking side by side with Rahul Gandhi. One wonders if it might have
contributed to their working together in the forthcoming elections and after
the victory and formation of a Congress government! Is it entirely fortuitous
that the Congress won both elections held after the BJY, in Himachal Pradesh
and in Karnataka?
And now for Rahul Gandhi himself. What did the Yatra do for him? Of
course, he would be the best judge of that, but some things looked obvious to
an observer. Though he had been in public life for many years, probably his
interaction was more with party workers and leaders, and not so much with
the Indian masses. His security imperatives would have been another
constraint. When political leaders go for election campaigns, they don’t
actually meet people—they only see them from a distance from the stage or
from atop a truck or a van. Door-to-door campaigning is done by the cadre.
The BJY probably gave Rahul Gandhi the first extended opportunity to meet

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ordinary people first-hand, talk to them, hold their hands and feel their
emotions. Day by day, as he walked and felt their warmth and pain and
happiness and sorrow, he grew visibly more comfortable, less self-conscious,
more confident and more instinctive in how he interacted with them. Ignoring
the low-level jibes from the usual sources, he spontaneously walked hand in
hand with young girls and women, picked up babies and children playfully,
and hugged wizened old ladies who came to bless him. He was soon seen
delivering extempore speeches at corner meetings, asking and answering
questions in smaller group interactions, and holding press conferences every
few days (in sharp contrast to the Prime Minister, who is yet to oblige on
Indian soil). Somewhere along the way, the assiduously manufactured ‘Pappu’
vanished into thin air. He reiterated his clear and simple but powerful message
from every platform: Unity and harmony, inflation, unemployment, crony
capitalism, Adani versus small and medium business, attack on democratic
institutions—this is why we need the Yatra.
In a preparatory meeting in Delhi attended by many civil society groups, in
reply to a question about why he did not concentrate on fighting elections in
the usual way, he had replied: We tried again and again but failed, because
everything is stacked against us, the Election Commission, the media, the
courts, the police and access to funds. We can’t reach the people in the usual
ways that are available in a democracy. That is why we decided to go directly
to the people through the BJY. In many ways, he communicated this same
understanding to the people throughout the Yatra.
It must also be pointed out that the mainstream media, the national press
and the major TV channels ignored the BJY right through. Some relented a
little in the latter part of the Yatra, when it reached the national capital, for
example. But local Indian-language media did cover it, as did social media
and smaller YouTube channels. Despite that, the message spread. The BJY’s
social media team provided real-time coverage and put out smaller video reels
as well, focusing on interviews with participants, etc. The net result was that it
could not be blacked out.
Why am I narrating this story in the way that I am? To give you a feel of
what effect it had on the minds and hearts of the Indian people. A lot more
research needs to be done to find out its short- and long-term impact.
And now for the smaller story. The microcosm that reflects
the macrocosm.
We had two opportunities to observe the BJY at close quarters. The first
one was in Telangana on 30 October 2022. We had been following the course

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of the Yatra since its inception and noting its growing popularity, and were
very keen to see it ourselves. We were also clear that we wanted to witness the
BJY in the rural areas and not in a big city. So, along with our friends
Professor Shantha Sinha, the renowned child rights activist, and M. Vikram,
who runs Manthan, Hyderabad’s vibrant discussion forum, and some young
family members, we caught up with the Yatra at Balanagar, about one-and-a-
half hours’ drive from Hyderabad. We joined the yatris during their daytime
break. Huge tents had been set up in the open ground along the Bangalore–
Hyderabad highway. Crowds were milling around outside the camp and the
atmosphere was that of a mela. We made our way over very uneven ground to
one of the tents. The senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was sitting
casually at the entrance on a plastic chair. The bare ground was covered with
mattresses, on which many yatris were sleeping or resting, or just sitting
around and chatting. We recognized Yogendra Yadav sleeping on a mattress
on the ground.
There were a few folding cots, on which we were seated by the organizers,
and soon a small group formed around us of individuals such as Kanhaiya
Kumar, whom we knew from his student days in JNU, and Meenakshi
Natarajan, a former member of the Lok Sabha known for her integrity and
spartan lifestyle; there were also a few others we had not known before. This
was the end of October 2022 and the yatris had been walking for almost seven
weeks now. They narrated their experiences with great enthusiasm. They did
not seem to mind the rather austere and difficult physical amenities that they
had access to—they were conscious that they were partaking in a historic
event, very different from their everyday lives. The yatris were drawn from
different regions, religions, castes and class backgrounds. Thrown together for
so many months, they had learnt a great deal about each other’s lives and
concerns. Friendships blossomed and bonds were forged that would outlast
the Yatra. In a country where linguistic, religious and regional boundaries,
along with class, caste and gender, most often define social relationships, this
was no small achievement. At a time when politics has been reduced to a
naked power game, minus people, with acquisition of wealth as its primary
objective, and leaders and workers flaunting their expensive vehicles, it was
decidedly disruptive to posit its opposite—going directly to the people,
enduring hard physical labour of walking more than 25 kilometres a day,
living in makeshift camps and waking up at 4 a.m. to start walking by 6 a.m.
This feeling of doing something ‘different’ was very evident in the yatris we
met.

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 After meeting the yatris and being cordially invited to share their lunch,
along with some sixty to seventy social and political activists and intellectuals
from Telangana, we joined a discussion meeting with Rahul Gandhi in the
small adjoining tent. Rahul Gandhi made a small opening statement about the
objectives of the Yatra and then there was a freewheeling question-and-answer
session for about an hour. What was striking was Rahul Gandhi’s willingness
to field all kinds of questions and try to answer them sincerely. And soon
enough, it was time for the afternoon lap of the Yatra. We met many local
activists who had joined the Yatra for short periods, ranging from half a day to
the entire duration of the march through Telangana. So in addition to the all-
India yatris, there were also state-level yatris who increased its numbers. It is
also necessary to point out the energizing impact it had on the Congress
party’s cadre and local-level leaders in Telangana, who had been demoralized
for quite some time by the near monopoly of power of the Telangana Rashtra
Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi). It did have an impact on the region, as
the Telangana elections in December 2023 showed.
The second occasion to be part of the Yatra was on 11 January 2023 in
Punjab. We were surprised and delighted to receive an invitation from Rahul
Gandhi to join him on the Yatra, and in discussion with his team a date and
place was fixed. Driving down from Delhi and staying overnight in
Chandigarh, we reached Mandi Gobindgarh, a small town on the Delhi–
Srinagar highway, on a bitterly cold day around noon. We went to the tent
housing the yatris, many of whom were wrapped in quilts to shelter
themselves from the cold, and spent time discussing their experiences on the
Yatra. As before, we found enthusiasm, resolve and a sense of purpose. We
were to join the Yatra and walk with Rahul Gandhi in the afternoon lap. We
were asked to go ahead and wait a few kilometres down the road, as there was
too much of a crowd at the beginning of the Yatra. As the Yatra approached,
we were ushered into the inner cordon and escorted deftly to Rahul Gandhi’s
side. On seeing us, he immediately greeted us warmly, held our hands and
started walking and talking. However, he soon noticed that I (Mridula) was
having some difficulty walking fast to keep pace with him. He stopped, got
some water for me and told his aides to take us to the sweet shop a few
kilometres ahead in Khanna, where they were going to stop for tea. We were
so touched by his concern and kindness.
When we reached the teashop after negotiating the crowds, he was already
there. He was courtesy personified. He made place for us at the table where all
the Punjab Congress leaders and his associates were sitting, and after ordering

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tea for us started a serious conversation that lasted about half an hour and
ended only when he was repeatedly told by his team that they were getting
late for the next programme. We were impressed with how focused and
attentive he was, despite it being towards the end of a long and physically
challenging day. When I (Mridula) said to him that when the Yatra started, it
was like a ray of sunlight in a dark sky but now the whole sky seemed full of
light, his reply was typically modest and precise. ‘Not quite,’ he said, ‘not
yet.’ We pointed out how the impact of movements is not measured in terms
of immediate success, and therefore the question as to whether the Yatra
would succeed in getting the Congress to win the next elections was not
appropriate. After all, none of the big nationwide movements fought under
Gandhi ji’s leadership—Non-Cooperation (1920–22), Civil Disobedience
(1930–32) or Quit India (1942)—resulted in Independence. But they all
contributed to it. They were not failures because they did not result in
immediate independence. We also talked about how the BJY was most often
compared to the Dandi Yatra, but a more appropriate comparison could be
made with Gandhi’s campaign in 1932–33 against discrimination against the
so-called untouchables castes whom he called Harijans. For nine long months
he was on the road, touring the whole country by walking, going by car and
train and boat, village by village, arguing against untouchability, for
permitting temple entry to Harijans and promoting interdining, which was
prohibited. It was in its essence a campaign to unite Indians—‘Bharat jodo’.
Rahul Gandhi further asked us what the central issues in the Indian
freedom movement were. We said there were two basic or critical ideas that
the nationalist leaders and workers carried to the people of India. One, that we
needed to get the British to leave, because they were exploiting India and
there was a drain of wealth from India to Britain; and two, that we would
replace British rule with a democratic system—prajatantra or lokatantra—and
not a monarchy, or a feudal or authoritarian system of government. Also, we
added, they convinced people that British rule was not invincible—it could be
defeated. While the early nationalists or moderates were the ones who
developed the basic structure of the ideology of colonial exploitation leading
to the poverty of the peasant, it was in the Gandhian phase that it was carried
to the people, including in the rural areas, and the so-called invincibility of
British rule, ‘on which the sun never set’, was openly challenged. We talked
about how Jawaharlal Nehru described the impact of the coming of Gandhi ji
on the Indian scene in The Discovery of India as making people give up their

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fear of authorities. (The quotation at the beginning of the chapter refers to
this.)
Rahul Gandhi then told us a story about how on one occasion in the course
of the Yatra, he reached out and touched two poor children, only to be later
told by a leader that he should not have done that because they were dirty. He
said that before Independence, the Congress was dependent on the producing
classes and not on the rich, whereas now it was dependent on contractors and
businessmen. We agreed with him about the days of the freedom struggle and
recounted how the British government had actually conducted an inquiry into
the role of what they called the ‘Gandhian moneybags’ in the movement and
come to the conclusion that the Congress was not dependent on them, but
relied on membership fees and mostly unpaid volunteer work and support of
local communities.
He was curious to know more about Sardar Patel, Dr Ambedkar and
Gandhi ji, and asked questions about their views on different issues. We also
discussed what we could learn from the national movement about how to
involve the people, not only by talking to them and listening to them, as he
was doing, but also by enabling them to make a contribution. We gave
examples from our research on the national and peasant movements in Punjab.
When a big leader such as Jawaharlal Nehru was to come for a mass public
meeting, political activists would visit villages a fortnight or more in advance
to invite peasants to attend and would also ask for contributions of, say, one
ser of grain, for the langar that would be organized at the meeting venue.
Shopkeepers in towns would be asked to contribute small amounts of cash.
With these contributions, they would run the langar, and save some to run the
Congress office for some time. People gave willingly because they wanted to
contribute to and invest in the movement, as it gave them a sense of
ownership and a sense of dignity. Gandhi ji understood this and tried to give
dignity to the poor by encouraging their active participation in struggles, and
by concepts such as Daridranarayan—that God resides in the poor. The BJP
has understood this and got people to contribute bricks for the Ram Mandir
and iron for Sardar Patel’s statue. We discussed how we also needed to evolve
programmes that required the active participation and contribution of the
people, especially the poor and disadvantaged sections.
Rahul Gandhi then had to leave, but he was generous enough to say that he
would like to continue the conversation in Delhi.
Our visit to the Yatra concluded with the media team asking us to record
our observations about the BJY in a video interview, which we did. Among

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other things, we pointed out that one thing that the people appreciated about
the Yatra was that someone was willing to listen to them. This was because the
political class had, by and large, stopped listening to them. It only talked down
to them, it only broadcast its ‘mann ki baat’, but didn’t ever ask the people,
especially the poor, to share their ‘mann’ or ‘dil ki baat’. People also
appreciated Rahul Gandhi’s saying that he drew strength from them. Again, it
gave them a sense of dignity and empowered them. We also said we were very
happy to be part of the BJY, to be part of something historic, of which people
were a part. We always regretted not being born in the era of the freedom
struggle, and the BJY gave us an opportunity to experience something of a
similar nature.
We were acutely aware that 2023 was not 1920. Rahul Gandhi was not
Mahatma Gandhi. We were not fighting for liberation from foreign rule. And
yet, as historians, we felt in the BJY a whiff of the spirit that lifted India out of
a stupor and gave it new life a little over a century ago.
It is for the people of India and their leaders to walk the path that it has lit
up.

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 When the Journey Is the Destination
Prof. Mukulika Banerjee

T
raversing the length of India, from its southernmost tropical tip to icy
Kashmir in the north, the Bharat Jodo Yatra was a massive foot march
against India’s growing culture of intolerance. This journey to bring India
together was the largest mass contact programme the country has seen in
recent times. Led by Rahul Gandhi, the Yatra covered almost 4,000
kilometres, with people walking 20 to 25 kilometres every day. Hundreds of
others drawn from the Indian National Congress, members of a wide range of
civil society groups and some brave celebrities, filmmakers and journalists
joined in solidarity with the message of the Yatra. They did so despite
knowing that joining the Yatra could have negative consequences for their
careers. And finally, thousands of people lined the Yatra’s route, both to catch
a glimpse of the famous politician and to show support.
Anyone could join the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and I did so on 15 and 16
December 2022, on the back of a research trip to India. As a committed Indian
citizen, I found it hard to stay away from such a big event that was filled with
positivity and hope to counter the atmosphere of hate and violence that
consumes my wondrous country. As a political anthropologist interested in
Indian democracy, I had to be there in person, for my discipline generates
knowledge through the encounter between the self and the world. As a sister, I
also wanted to show solidarity with Yogendra Yadav, my brother-in-law, who
has been an acerbic critic of the Congress in the past, but who chose to walk
the whole way because he believes in the message and convened a squad of
civil society organizations, who are doing the same. After following social
media posts on the Yatra for three months, I was impatient to be there myself,
to feel the energy, to walk with others, to hear the sounds and to test my own
endurance.
I spent two nights and two days with the Yatra, and the journey began as
soon as I alighted at the Sawai Madhopur train station. A young doctor, one of
the national yatris, had come to town to collect medicines needed at the camp,
but was stranded and needed to get back to the camp about 20 kilometres
away. As we chatted during the lift I was able to offer him, I asked him the

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many questions I had arrived with. He had left behind his wife and two
children to come on the Yatra because he was deeply worried about the
direction the country was going in and wanted badly to be part of something
positive. This was the gist of what many other people also said to me, and
each had their own story of why they were walking. No lofty ideological
statements, but simple ones such as ‘We can do better than hate’ or ‘I just had
to do this myself as the Yatra has such a good message’ or ‘In our country,
walking as tapasya is something we all understand’. I met more than one
young woman who had run away from home to join the Yatra after catching a
glimpse of it passing through her state. Women walked in crisp saris, men in
the same clothes day after day—the variety of languages, backgrounds and
temperaments, the whole experience was mind-boggling. Over the two days, I
met several other professionals such as me, who had all joined in solidarity
and wanted to experience the Yatra first-hand. It was a mini India that seemed
to be on the march. We all know this India exists, but rarely get to experience
it first-hand all at once.
Why the march? As Rahul himself explained, the streets are the only arena
left for India’s Opposition. That is, in an India where the Modi government
has weaponized the police, the courts, and tax and other enforcement
institutions to hound any critic;1 and where big businesses compete to join the
elite ranks of Modi’s billionaire crony capitalists2 and the mainstream media
has become a crony-owned post-truth foghorn for the regime.3 Marching en
mass is the only way to make visible the fact that many disagree with the
ruinous direction the government is taking India in. Predictably, the Yatra was
ignored by most of the mainstream media. Consequently, most Indians even
slightly away from its route, as well as the Indian diaspora, did not even know
something as historic as the Yatra was happening.
The message of the Yatra was simple—that politics should not be the
agenda of polarization, hatred and antagonism, lies and winning elections at
all costs. Rather, politics and government should be about compassion,
solidarity and bringing people together. As Rahul said, ‘Hum nafrat ke bazaar
mein, mohabbat ki dukaan kholney aaye hain (In a marketplace of hate, we
have come to open a shop of love).’ This message was not lost on his
audience, which has been witness to India being driven by the politics of hate,
the hounding of religious minorities, misogyny, violence against low-caste
citizens and national chauvinism taken to absurd limits, all of which are now
part of a supremacist Hindutva ideology.

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 This Yatra was organized by the Indian National Congress, a party that
Rahul Gandhi’s family has long dominated. When it started on 7 September
2022, with a planned conclusion on 26 January 2023, India’s Republic Day,
not many expected it to last the whole way. But the march only grew in
numbers as the yatris passed through eight of India’s twenty-eight states. The
Central government even threatened to stop it citing fears of Covid, even
while Prime Minister Modi himself continued to address rallies.
Each day began at 6 a.m. In Rajasthan, in December, this meant it was
pitch dark and bitterly cold. As we huddled in our shawls and jackets, our
bodies warmed with the chants and slogans that began as soon as we set off.
‘Jodo jodo, Bharat Jodo (Unite India, unite India)’, ‘Nafrat chhodo, Bharat
jodo (Leave hate, unite India)’, ‘Prem se bolo, Bharat jodo (Hail it lovingly,
unite India)’. The improvisations were many and frequent, and we were
exhorted to join in. Anyone who has been in a demonstration will recognize
the feeling that chanting in unison with others, adding your own voice to a
collective roar, is a powerful tonic and generates what the sociologist Émile
Durkheim calls ‘collective effervescence’. This was made all the more
powerful when those lining the route also joined in.
The first comfort break typically came around 8.30 a.m. for a few minutes
when anyone who wanted tea could grab a quick one at a roadside stall. But
we continued on, taking the first major break of the day at 10.30 a.m., when
we reached a temporary ‘camp’. Here hundreds and hundreds of mattresses,
quilts and pillows were laid out for the yatris to rest, and lunch was served at
an adjoining marquee. The walk resumed around 3 p.m., ending at the day’s
finish point marked by a giant helium balloon one could spot from a kilometre
away.
Reflecting on it, the whole operation was like the military campaign of a
mammoth non-violent army. Camps were set up in advance, ready with
bedding, food, toilets and electric charging points before the troops arrived.
Each day, three sets of camps were set up, one for containers in which
Congress leaders, party workers and national yatris stayed and where Rahul
Gandhi’s trailer was also parked. The second one, in which I stayed, housed
the civil society organizations. We slept not in containers but on bedding on
the floor, in all our clothes as it was bitterly cold, and were woken by dew
dripping on our faces through the canvas roof of the marquee! We were
invariably woken up by cries of ‘Bistar chhodo, Bharat jodo (Leave your
beds, unite India)!’, my favourite slogan by far, which resounded around the
camp, providing much-needed motivation and hilarity. The third camp was for

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anyone who showed up unexpectedly and for local yatris. The food was rather
excellent (perhaps to maintain morale), though the sorry state of the toilets
was a dampener. It made for a reliable conversation starter, though, and
sociological explanations abounded, including the plausible one that too many
were ‘Western-style’, which hundreds of yatris had never encountered before
and did not know how to use. It had been my biggest concern about the Yatra,
and I was not wrong. But it was salutary that the people invariably ended the
Yatra with the sage remark that a yatra was not a yatra, it was a pilgrimage. So
if there was any discomfort, one had to just deal with it. Reader, I tried.
Such marches have an honourable and successful precedence. Mahatma
Gandhi did the same in 1930 against the British with great effect, when he and
Congress workers marched to the coast to make their own salt in defiance of
the brutal colonial salt tax. Since then, amassing in huge numbers on public
roads to defy an unjust and intransigent regime carries resonance with Indians
as a powerful non-violent weapon. Indian farmers used it with great force for
twelve months in 2020–21, when they camped outside Delhi demanding the
repeal of the new agricultural laws that they felt would severely disadvantage
them. They won that battle, as the government eventually backed down.
Walking in the Yatra was a sensory cornucopia. As one felt the vibrations
of thousands of pairs of feet on the ground, trumpets and drums blared
morale-boosting music, crowds lined the paths, and cheered and took
photographs, the yatris shouted slogans and perhaps because I walked in
Rajasthan, women dressed in the most stunning and vibrant colours stood in
large groups along the route. Many had no doubt come to see Rahul Gandhi
for themselves, and from the right vantage points were likely to get a better
look than by going to a political rally. On the second day, as we walked
through the town of Dausa, there was not an inch of ledge or rooftop that was
not crammed with perilously perched crowds, and people stood six or seven
deep on the sides of the road. The Congress Seva Dal and Congress veteran
Jairam Ramesh led the Yatra every day. Yogendra’s group, which I was part
of, marched behind it, a kilometre or so ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s juggernaut
of the roped ‘D’ area, containing the media vans (producing those slick
images on social media) and a security cordon where Rahul walked with those
he impulsively invited in and others who had come especially to support the
Yatra. He was nominally protected by security, but in truth he was a sitting
duck as he walked along highways, flyovers and down narrow streets
overlooked by buildings. That took great courage, having lost his father
(former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi) and grandmother (former Prime

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Minister Indira Gandhi) to assassinations. But his manner belied this
vulnerability as he walked at a brisk pace, smiling and waving to crowds,
picking out individuals to enter the D and walk with him for a while.
I, too, walked with Rahul, working hard to keep pace. As on earlier
encounters, I found Rahul to be courteous and cerebral, eager for an
intellectual back-and-forth and easily affectionate. We debated the usefulness
of Western political thought in furthering our understanding of Indian politics.
He offered his own take, and our robust conversation continued through a
quick breakfast stop (where he ate toast and omelette with his hands). It was
possible to challenge him and disagree with him in a way you can’t with most
Indian politicians—certainly not with Prime Minister Modi, who refuses to
engage even in press conferences. Instead, Indian citizens are given the shock-
and-awe strategy of lavish stage-managed events, multiple camera angles
covering every move of Modi and his perfect grooming, with all others, even
foreign dignitaries, pushed aside so as not to distract attention from him.4 In
contrast, the sight of Rahul Gandhi, in an unkempt beard and trainers, walking
along, surrounded by ordinary people is a compelling one.
During the hour or so I spent with him, he invited in young men,
schoolgirls and an elderly farmer carrying a container of wheat on his head,
engaging each in conversation about their work, asking after an injury he
might have spotted on their arm or face or just holding their hand and
walking. His team held up a QR code for those who wanted their picture with
Rahul, so they could download them from the BJY website by the end of the
day. Every inch of the route, cries of ‘Love you, Rahul!’ and ‘Rahul Gandhi
Zindabad’ could be heard. A young schoolgirl he invited in could barely
contain her excitement as he engaged her in conversation about the card she
clutched. It was the Preamble to India’s Constitution, and he asked her to read
it aloud and discussed the meaning of words such as ‘justice’ and ‘fraternity’,
before making sure she was safely reunited with her father. It is this easy
unpretentiousness, genuine curiosity about people and decency that people
notice and talk about once the procession has passed.
It is true, however, that the Congress party’s failure in recent years to win
enough elections is also blamed on Rahul. Certainly, the party organization
has been moribund and party workers have been fractious and demoralized.
But the Yatra has gone some way in galvanizing those troops, who have
rallied around to put on this enormous roadshow, organizing the logistics of
food, shelter and toilets on a daily basis, mile after mile, across several
months. Whether the Yatra marks a change in the Congress’s electoral

175
fortunes remains to be seen, but it has given back to many Indians a little hope
and courage to reimagine their country as a place of togetherness, civility and
tolerance.
For years, the BJP and the Prime Minister have referred to Rahul as
‘Pappu’—a nickname for a young boy or a man who is inept, introverted and
innocent—thereby dismissing and infantilizing him in a manner loyally
amplified by the media. They tried various smears during the Yatra too,
dismissing it as a damp squib even before it began. But it was evident that
Rahul was no spoilt scion of a dynasty. He walked the talk, hugged everyone
warmly regardless of caste, religion or gender, and listened carefully to what
they had to say. It is only in Modi’s India, with its toxic politics and
celebration of the Mahatma’s assassin, that common decency, compassion and
the upholding of the values of the Constitution can be seen as stupid.
One conversation I had with a group of women on the side of a road will
remain with me forever. They had dressed up, worn their nice saris and stood
patiently for the Yatra to arrive. I stopped to chat and soon was having a
robust discussion about the reasons behind rising prices, how taxes work, why
diesel cost so much and how international prices of oil were determined. This,
coming from women whose faces were covered by their saris for modesty,
was quite something. I asked one of them if she would consider standing for
panchayat elections, and she lifted her veil and grinned at me, saying she had
already been a pradhan. Her experience had clearly not just given her a voice,
but also empowered all the women around her.
It was conversations such as this one and so many others that made the trip
worth it. Walking 22 kilometres each day is a feat of endurance without a
doubt—but this was no solitary hike in the mountains. The energy of people,
present in the thousands at any given point, carries you along. Besides, I wore
trainers—many walked in plastic chappals and even barefoot, which was
humbling. More than anything, what startled me was the level of goodwill
among the yatris themselves. In this mini India on the move, one encountered
the qualities of accommodation, concern and friendliness even among
strangers from different castes, religions and regions of India. It was as close
as one could get to the creation of what Ambedkar repeatedly described as the
goal of ‘fraternity’. The Yatra provided a brief glimmer of it.
The last time a yatra caught the nation’s attention was L.K. Advani’s ‘Rath
Yatra’ atop a modified Toyota bus in the 1980s, which traversed the country,
inciting anti-Muslim sentiments, leaving a trail of riots and bloodshed in its
wake and resulting in mobs tearing down a sixteenth-century mosque. The

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current Indian government’s ideology is built on that Yatra’s legacy (and the
incumbent Prime Minister was one of the key organizers of that hate-inducing
yatra).5 In stark contrast, the yatris I walked with held up the image of an
alternative India that challenged the legitimacy of a regime bloated with
hubris, and drunk on power and violence. The question that I came away with
was: Which path will the Indian population choose to take?

1 ‘How the Indian Government Uses Raids to Silence Critics’, Time, 16

February 2023, https://time.com/6255425/india-raid-bbc-modi-
documentary/
2 Rupa Subramanya, ‘Modi Risks Turning India into a Nation of Gangster
Capitalists’, Nikkei Asia, 5 February 2021,
https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Modi-risks-turning-India-into-a-nation-
of-gangster-capitalists
3 Anando Bhakto, ‘India’s Press Freedom Ranking Dips Sharply,
According to Analysis by Media Watchdog Reporters Without Borders’,
The Frontline, 3 May 2023,
https://frontline.thehindu.com/news/narendra-modi-india-press-
freedom-ranking-falls-in-media-watchdog-reporters-without-borders-
index/article66807884.ece
4 Sahil Bhalla, ‘By Pulling Zuckerberg Aside, Modi Demonstrated That
He Always Knows Where the Camera Is’, Dawn, 29 September 2015,
https://www.dawn.com/news/1209729
5 Liz Mathew, ‘Explained: The Intertwined Journeys of Narendra Modi
and the Temple in Ayodhya’, The Indian Express, 6 August 2020,
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-the-intertwined-
journeys-of-narendra-modi-and-the-temple-in-ayodhya-6538847/

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 A Padyatra to Reclaim Hope
Sridhar Radhakrishnan

I
t seemed like just another ordinary day in my small village in Kerala. Given
it was August 2020, the conversation naturally revolved around the
monsoon rains. For Malayalees, politics is an ever-present thread woven into
the very fabric of daily life, and even the rains cannot escape its embrace. As
the predictions suggested heavy rains, we huddled together with a sense of
foreboding creeping in. It has been like this since the great floods of 2017.
This unease, however, was not limited to the weather, for it mirrored a
broader sentiment that had been growing since the outcome of the 2019
national elections. My understanding of India had increasingly become tinged
with a feeling of helplessness. Although I had roots in Kerala and Tamil Nadu,
these regions were sanctuaries of hope amid a landscape choked with hate.
We were like the Gauls resisting the Roman Empire, but in the grand tapestry
of the nation, this resistance seemed insignificant.
The past few years had been fraught with challenges—the Covid-19
pandemic, the heart-wrenching sight of millions left stranded on the streets
because of unplanned lockdowns, millions of lives (including many I work
with) battered by fiscal policies since 2014, the disturbing surge in hate
attacks against non-Hindus, cases of organized lynchings reminiscent of the
Ku Klux Klan, and attacks on students, liberal activists, cultural leaders and
even journalists. The three contentious farm laws gave rise to massive farmer
protests, with hundreds of thousands converging on New Delhi, staying put
for an unprecedented 500 days, with many annadatas sacrificing their lives.
Divisions have insidiously infiltrated our society, in every town and village,
and even within the warmth of our families. This division has cleaved our
society into fragments of animosity, discontent and fear.
Everywhere in India, the atmosphere simmers like a trigger bomb,
awaiting a fanatical instigator to ignite the fuse, leading to riots, mass violence
and fratricide. Each indoctrinated radicalized member of our society and
family plays a scripted role in a potential genocide or a civil war. They seldom
realize they are just pawns in a design to destroy the plural Indian fabric.
Indeed, the seeds of a mental and virtual civil war have already been sown. A

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glance at the annals of history reveals the devastating consequences of politics
driven by hatred and fascist tendencies, a perilous path that India now treads.
Amid it all, a pervasive sense of unyielding authoritarianism emanated
from the country’s leadership, with the Prime Minister and his party
displaying a chilling indifference. Our collective plight just didn’t seem to
reach their ivory towers, and the manufactured narrative that they engineered
was completely removed from our lived reality. India was effectively
orphaned, for our government was no longer of, by or for the people.
This hopelessness has been magnified tenfold by a common lament that
has echoed through the hearts and minds of concerned citizens for the past
few years. Where is the Opposition, we ask? Where are the stalwart leaders of
the yesteryears who would have dared to challenge this thick smoke choking
India? Where are the democrats, socialists, liberals, Gandhians, leftists and
Lohiaites, all of whom shaped this nation, through India’s freedom struggle
and later? And even more personally, there are inescapable questions: Where
do we stand? What contributions can we make? Whom should we look to in
these trying times?

A Ray of Hope
Then, like a ray of light in the darkness, came the announcement of the Bharat
Jodo Yatra—an epic odyssey spanning approximately 4,000 kilometres, in a
marathon-like 150-plus days, walking from Kanyakumari to Kashmir! The
sheer audacity of doing something so bold in the face of the most challenging
times marked by hate and divisive politics shook everyone out of their reverie.
Its main slogan, ‘Mile Kadam, Jude Watan (Walk together, unite the country)’,
is deeply rooted in India’s culture of struggle and the time-honoured tradition
of reconnecting with the masses, and genuinely offered a glimmer of hope
amid the gloom.
Even more impressive was Rahul Gandhi’s decision to embark on this
padyatra. In contrast to his image of a princeling from a privileged
background, his decision reflects an indomitable spirit and a refusal to
capitulate even in the face of relentless personal attacks, slander and abuse—
an experience unmatched by most political leaders. This is perhaps a
testament to his transformation. He no longer represents just himself, the
‘family’, or the Congress. He now embodies the spirit of the entire country,
each one of us, and his future is inexorably intertwined with the future of the
nation. His resolve to heal the nation and give it hope, albeit softly but

179
resolutely, emanates from the legacy that he inherits and the many painful, but
profound lessons learnt throughout his life and within his immediate family.
However, a fear lurked within me. Could he truly pull off this
extraordinary feat? A 4,000-kilometre journey spanning 150 days,
accompanied by a hundred co-yatris, is no easy task. Each day would demand
his unwavering attention, stretching for hours as he interacted with countless
individuals who yearned for a moment of connection with him and the Yatra.
What if he faltered along the way, succumbing to fatigue or illness? What if
disaster struck? The weight of these ‘what ifs’ pressed heavily on my mind.
Failure would not only impact him, but could spell the end of his leadership.
As I grappled with these concerns from my vantage point, far from the
epicentre of Indian politics, it became clear that the success of this historic
journey depended on our collective commitment. I decided that I, too, would
walk, covering as much distance as my body would allow. This was a moment
in history too significant to pass by, and the thought of not participating
haunted me.

Boots on the Ground

As I was thinking all this, I unexpectedly received a call from P.C.
Vishnunadh, an INC leader and an MLA, with an invitation to walk alongside
Rahul Gandhi and engage in a dialogue with him. My excitement was
palpable because I had been waiting for this moment.
The Yatra set off from Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India, on 7
September 2022. A journalist posed a pertinent question: Why did Rahul
choose to walk from the south to the north? Typically, political yatras
originate in the north. Her observation was thought-provoking, suggesting that
Rahul believed India had much to learn from the south, particularly when it
came to the core principles of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. It was an optimistic
belief that he could convey the message of national unity, diversity, tolerance
and love from the south to the heartland of our incredible nation.
The Yatra crossed into Kerala on 11 September, where it received a grand
welcome, with senior INC leaders in attendance. Many of them joined the
walk for a significant portion of Rahul’s twenty-day journey through Kerala.
V.D. Satheesan, the incumbent Leader of the Opposition, noted that ‘none of
us has ever done this in our whole political career. We do jathas and yatras,
but walking for so long was a challenge.’ Their legs ached and their feet were
worn, but the experience energized them with each passing day. Rahul

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displayed exceptional care, personally tending to ailing leaders such as
Oommen Chandy, and ensuring their well-being.
Even in the bustling crowds, he maintained an intimate connection with the
people. His eyes caught little children tripping in the crowd, mothers pushing
and stumbling, girls who cried uncontrollably and out-of-breath elders. All of
them were taken care of, many a time directly by him. He never allowed
security guards or the police to control the crowds, and, remarkably, the crowd
self-regulated.
Meanwhile, I stood waiting near Neyyattinkara, with Vishnunadh by my
side, who was there to ease my entry into the Yatra. I began to witness the
meticulous organization required for an undertaking of this magnitude. As we
waited, announcement Jeeps were already conducting pilots, and security
personnel held briefings. People had risen early, lining the roadsides to catch a
glimpse of the man. A resident, recognizing our presence, offered to get us
some tea. We gratefully accepted, and his wife soon arrived with tea glasses
on a plate. This gesture, I would later learn, was a common occurrence
throughout the Yatra, with people voluntarily serving tea and snacks to the
yatris, which was also a testament to the ‘athithi devo bhava’ attitude of
Keralites.
The anticipation in the air grew and the rhythmic sound of a thousand
determined footsteps reverberated. Amid this throng was Rahul, clad in a
white T-shirt and dark pants, leading the procession. We shook hands, and
what followed was a candid exchange, well documented by Bharat Jodo’s
social media handles and various media outlets. I couldn’t help but delve into
the conversation with journalistic curiosity, but the response I received was far
from the usual political rhetoric. It was open, incisive and direct, and Rahul
was sharing his thoughts even while other Congress leaders listened.

Sridhar R. (SR): Rahul, is this walk about India or is it about the Congress?
Rahul Gandhi (RG): The Congress, the way I see it, is a conversation. The
conversation in the country is dead. This walk is about reigniting that
conversation.
SR: But this conversation can’t be just about you alone. It needs to involve
everyone in your party. I’m reminded of the NYAY scheme, which, to me, had
the potential to be a game-changer in the 2019 elections. However, only you
were seen campaigning across the country for this Universal Basic Income
idea. None of your senior leaders actively promoted it. I found it
disappointing. I believed the UPA could have won in 2019 based on this.

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RG: You’re right! We couldn’t go all out with NYAY at that time, but we will.
By the way, many in the Congress didn’t even believe in the NREGA initially.
Only we believed in it, and it was implemented.
SR: Rahul, I would like to see NYAY as the major platform on which the UPA
campaigns in 2024.

RG: I fully agree with you. It’s already beginning to be implemented in states
where we have governments.

Our conversation then traversed into India’s complex agrarian crisis, the
necessity for a guaranteed Minimum Support Price, the farmers’ protest and
related issues. Then Rahul asked, ‘By the way, what’s your take on agriculture
in China? How does it compare to India?’ This question triggered a discussion
on the urgent need to reshape India’s agricultural priorities, emphasizing the
protection of ecosystems while simultaneously improving farmers’ yields and
incomes. We also delved into the potentially disastrous impact of Kerala’s
high-speed rail project, labelling it as an economic and ecological catastrophe
of unprecedented proportions.

People’s Embrace of the Bharat Jodo Yatra

The BJY was a transformative experience that struck a deep chord with the
masses. Unlike the typical pre-election ritual of politicians traversing long
distances in vehicles, the BJY had a different essence. Crowds spontaneously
gathered along the Yatra’s route at all hours, drawn by a shared sentiment.
This Yatra was not about election campaigns or a one-man show—it was
about uniting India and confronting divisive forces. People from diverse age
groups and ideologies were captivated by its message.
For the first time in contemporary Kerala’s history, we witnessed crowds
assembling organically, and the visuals from the Yatra moved even the
typically sceptical media. Last year, the passing away of the much-loved
leader Oommen Chandy evoked an emotional response from people across the
political spectrum. But Kerala wouldn’t have anticipated such an
overwhelming reaction to a leader embarking on a walking journey.
The emotions among the people, especially among Muslims, women and the
youth, were truly remarkable. Everyone wanted to join in, from the younger
generation to the retired individuals, men and women. They thronged the
route, waving, smiling, shouting slogans and even occasionally squeezing

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through the crowd and security lines to get close to Rahul, to touch him, or
even share a warm and reassuring hug. It’s a rare leader who possesses the
qualities and the willingness to be out in the open, and stand as one with the
people.
As the Yatra gently but profoundly made its way into the heart of
Thiruvananthapuram, a place where daily commuters often harbour disdain
for processions and the inevitable traffic disruptions they bring, there was a
shift in perception. The media, accustomed to directing their cameras and
microphones at the frustrated and inconvenienced public, received an
unexpected response. Typically, people vent their frustration at politicians and
union leaders who cause these disruptive roadblocks. However, the BJY
brought a different perspective. ‘He is walking. Let him,’ they softly uttered.
This simple act of pedestrian empathy and involvement was profound. Here
was a leader traversing the length of the country on foot, embarking on a
pilgrimage to redeem the nation’s soul. ‘We can wait,’ they declared, their
voices echoing patience and understanding.

A Beacon of Trust: In the Footsteps of Gandhi

In Rahul Gandhi, the people saw a reflection of trustworthiness. To
marginalized minorities, particularly Muslims, Rahul Gandhi embodied a
figure who would stand up for them, seeking to restore the pluralistic spaces
that had dwindled over the past nine years. The resounding sentiment was that
‘he is secular, a 100 per cent’.
When women rallied around Rahul Gandhi, their confidence and trust were
palpable. They would reach out to touch him and offer warm hugs, and in
return, he reciprocated with equal warmth. These interactions were devoid of
any theatrical grandeur—they were authentic and unscripted. People
recognized this sincerity, which was unannounced but deeply felt. It moved
them profoundly.
The substantial presence of women, youth, particularly young girls, and a
massive turnout of Muslims, including numerous women from their families,
all conveyed a singular message. Here was someone who offered them hope
and could be trusted. The prevailing insecurity in the nation, particularly
among minorities and marginalized communities, could only be addressed
through a sweeping movement rooted in love and a resounding message to
resist fascism. The Bharat Jodo Yatra featured many slogans, on love and
against hate, on price and inflation, on unemployment and on protecting the

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Constitution. But BJY was itself the embodiment of the message—a
beginning and a means to reclaim the unity and diversity that define the
essence of India.
Rahul Gandhi’s journey across the country resonated with the spirit of
Mahatma Gandhi, who undertook several iconic walks as a symbol of
resistance, change and unity. Rahul’s Yatra stood as a modern-day echo of the
Mahatma’s timeless principles, emphasizing the power of unity and the
enduring relevance of love and non-violence.

The Wake-Up Call: The Congress Revived by the Bharat

Jodo Yatra
Amid a demoralized Congress, the Bharat Jodo Yatra emerged as a resounding
wake-up call. It came as a lifeline to a party grappling with electoral setbacks
and a dwindling morale, especially in the state of Kerala, which had witnessed
two consecutive losses in state elections.
V.D. Satheesan, the Opposition leader in Kerala, spearheaded the
organization of the twenty-day leg of the Yatra in the state. According to him,
this endeavour proved to be the most challenging event he had ever organized.
It required meticulous planning and execution, from assembling a team to
managing schedules, accommodation, food, transportation, crowds and
security. What was even more remarkable was that Satheesan and many senior
Congress leaders participated in the Yatra themselves, further bolstering its
significance. In many places, what was initially anticipated as a few hundred
participants swelled to tens of thousands, presenting a considerable challenge
in crowd management. The public’s enthusiasm and involvement were
palpable, almost overshadowing the Yatra’s organized aspects.
For the Congress in Kerala, the Bharat Jodo Yatra held immense
importance. The state’s political landscape is intrinsically linked to national
politics and the party’s relevance hinges on its national counterpart. The
resounding message conveyed by the Yatra breathed new life into the
Congress, rekindling its organizing prowess and fostering a newfound sense
of unity.
Numerous senior Congress leaders walked alongside Rahul Gandhi
through the Kerala leg. Many expressed their desire to participate in future
yatras, should Rahul decide to embark on an east–west traverse of India.
Some even suggested that it would be beneficial for the Congress to connect

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with the people by its leaders embarking on padyatras for a month every year!
This renewed sense of possibility underscores the commitment of the
Congress to stay closely connected with the electorate.
During the Yatra’s journey through Kerala, thirty-three meetings were
organized with various segments of the population, each meticulously planned
and executed, to cover as many collectives representing a cross-section of
society, curated through discussions within the state organizing committee.
Civil society members such as I were equally enthusiastic to participate and
contribute to this historic endeavour.
For many who initially hesitated to join the Yatra due to reservations about
being associated with a political figure, regrets surfaced as the Yatra moved
further north in India. They realized that Rahul Gandhi had transcended
partisan politics and was symbolizing a national movement, a messianic figure
committed to the nation’s welfare.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra managed to galvanize not only the senior leaders,
but also witnessed remarkable dedication from younger party members. The
unifying spirit of the Yatra transcended the often factional nature of the
Congress in Kerala. It united leaders and rank-and-file members, shifting the
political narrative in the state. The Congress is now positioned as a staunch
defender against fascist forces, often described as being even more left-
leaning than the left, according to independent observers.
Rahul Gandhi now stands as the pivot of this national movement, the
leader who can challenge Narendra Modi, the BJP, the RSS, their corporate
partners in crime and their agenda. The Congress party must rebuild itself
from the grassroots and transform not only the organization, but also its
guiding principles to effectively combat this growing challenge. It needs to let
go of tendencies that have alienated the common man, the aam aadmi.
Moreover, the party should make itself more appealing and inspiring to the
youth, women and a cross-section of the population.

The Left Parties: Missed Opportunity to Embrace

India’s Cause
The initial response of the leadership of the left parties in Kerala, particularly
the CPI(M), to the Bharat Jodo Yatra was marked by criticism and subtle
insinuations. However, as they witnessed the overwhelming response of the
people and noticed that the Congress refrained from launching political

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attacks on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, focusing instead on the
Yatra as a response to the nation’s challenges, the LDF adopted a more
passive stance. They refrained from creating roadblocks, which, as the ruling
party in Kerala, they could have done. This was a silent acknowledgement of
the Yatra’s significance.
Although the cadre of the left parties did not actively participate in the
Yatra, many supporters of the left did join the crowds, cheering for Rahul
Gandhi and the yatris.
In response to a question from a media representative about my left-
leaning inclinations and why I chose to walk with Rahul Gandhi, my response
was clear, ‘Rahul Gandhi is walking across India for all of us. Beyond all
political ideologies, we can all agree on what the BJY stands for. We should
walk with him. I believe the left parties should walk with him. Sitaram
Yechury and Pinarayi Vijayan should walk with him. I am glad the walk was
flagged off with M.K. Stalin walking with him. I believe anyone fighting
against fascism should walk with him. It’s not just a one-day protest or a
dharna. It’s a journey across the country, covering 4,000 kilometres. It’s a
penance, a satyagraha, of the most powerful kind.’
Ideally, the CPI(M) should have joined this movement, but regrettably,
Kerala’s CPI(M) faction remained an immovable block. This was a missed
opportunity for the left parties to align with a movement that resonated with
the spirit of unity and diversity that defines India’s essence.

Rahul Redefines Politics

In recent years, politics has shifted from the streets to the media and public
relations (PR) agencies, particularly after Narendra Modi became the Prime
Minister. Rahul Gandhi, through the BJY, has brought the conversations back
to the streets and villages, engaging with various sections of society. Politics
in India is slowly transforming, shifting from being PR-centric to the
grassroots. It’s a cyclical return to Gandhian non-violent, disciplined
satyagraha-inspired struggle. The Bharat Jodo Yatra resonates with the spirit
of the Dandi March and successful marches such as Yeduguri Sandinti
Rajasekhara Reddy’s that brought him back to power. Walking, or a padyatra,
is a tool close to the heart of the Congress, reminding us of the overwhelming
power of direct connection with the people.
Rahul Gandhi’s ability to instil confidence in minority communities,
particularly in Kerala, has strengthened his secular credentials. This stands in

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stark contrast to the divisive ideology of the BJP. The BJY has further
enhanced these credentials, clearing the negative image branding attempts by
the BJP.
‘Politics is about branding,’ says V.D. Satheesan. ‘The BJP, with its
powerful communication machinery, attempted to tarnish Rahul Gandhi’s
image, but the BJY has erased all that.’ Today, Rahul Gandhi stands tall, not
only as a political force, but also as a moral and spiritual leader, towering
above his contemporaries.
The BJY has shown that the political space created by past leaders such as
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamaraj Nadar is not lost. Rahul
Gandhi has reclaimed it.
Young India yearns for a leader such as Rahul Gandhi, someone liberal,
progressive and capable of challenging the system, dressing and speaking like
them and displaying agility. The fact that he walked for thousands of
kilometres resonated deeply with them. Another significant change was how
Rahul Gandhi shed the derogatory ‘Pappu’ image slapped on him by the BJP.
He not only proved that he wasn’t ‘Pappu’, but also challenged everyone to do
what he did—walk and connect with ordinary people, without fear and
fatigue.
He transcended party lines and legacy to embrace the greater good of the
nation as the larger goal. Here was a man who, though often ignored, woke
the nation up, addressed issues and united people, to defeat the divide-and-
rule strategy.
Preserving this unity is paramount. It is the bedrock of our democracy,
empowering us to face challenges with determination. The BJY is not just a
journey—it’s a movement towards a more inclusive, equitable and united
India, an era where unity’s collective strength paves the way for a brighter
future.

Final Word
In the heart of a divided and apprehensive India, a ray of hope emerged
through the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul Gandhi’s epic 4,000-kilometre, 150-day
padyatra has ignited a flame of unity and revival. It wasn’t just a political
journey—it was a quest for redemption and reconnection with our nation’s
core values. Amid societal fractures, Rahul Gandhi’s steps resonated as a call
to mend, to rekindle the silenced conversations in our nation.

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 The Yatra echoed the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, embracing non-violence,
love and the enduring essence of unity. Rahul Gandhi transcended politics to
symbolize a national movement, providing trust and hope to marginalized
communities, women and the youth. Amid insecurity, the Yatra marked our
resistance to divisive forces and ensured India’s enduring pluralism.
The Congress party found a renewed purpose, emphasizing grassroots
connections and repositioning Rahul Gandhi as a leader of both a political and
moral stature.
In India’s seventy-fifth anniversary year, when the Modi government
declared it the beginning of Amrit Kaal, little did it realize this was how it
would begin—with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, ushering in an era when unity’s
collective strength lights the path to a brighter future.
As we reflect on this journey, we find the essence of leadership as stated by
John Kenneth Galbraith, ‘All of the great leaders have had one characteristic
in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major
anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of
leadership.’
We as a nation are anxious, but now we as a nation have a leadership to
look up to.

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A Journey in Political Thought and Action
Nikhil Dey

T
he Bharat Jodo Yatra was a mammoth exercise in scale and ambition, but
at its core was the simple idea of establishing direct communication with
people. Had this communication been one-sided, it would have been largely
an exercise in political propaganda. However, because of the way it was
shaped and structured, it became a uniquely effective forum for re-
establishing democratic consultation and dialogue. It demonstrated the power
and potential of listening, and using it to contribute to progressive policies and
change. The name ‘Bharat Jodo’ and some of its stated objectives would
naturally measure its impact as a ‘campaign’. However, it was much more.
The extensive interactions with people and civil society organizations need
deeper analysis. The outcomes push us to look at how the Yatra also evolved
into a live and moving platform for participatory and consultative policy
formulation, and for democratic governance.

How the Yatra Directly Shaped Policy

While there were many policy initiatives that were strengthened by the
discussions in the Yatra, one needs to be especially highlighted. The
discussions around the increasingly vulnerable plight of workers in the
emerging and growing gig economy in India and across the globe led to a
significant breakthrough in establishing the social security rights of gig
workers through state-level legislation. The gig workers’ social security
legislation was built around the principles that were discussed, and evolved
through a series of conversations that took place between Rahul Gandhi and
gig worker unions and civil society organizations from Rajasthan. These
conversations helped explain the context and enabled political commitment
for fresh and credible legislation to mediate new working relationships in an
emerging sector of work.
It will be interesting to start with contemporary developments and trace
them back to the Yatra. On 23 December 2023 (more than a year after the
Bharat Jodo Yatra had passed through Telangana), the newly elected chief

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minister of Telangana, Revanth Reddy, attended a meeting in Hyderabad
organized by the All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC), where he
announced that the gig workers of Telangana would soon have a gig workers’
law. He added that it would be as good as, and improve on, the Rajasthan
Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act notified on
14 September 2022. This law has made waves not just in India, but across the
globe for being one of the first and only laws in the world to have begun to
establish legal rights for gig workers.
It would not be wrong to say that the Rajasthan legislation owes its
existence to a series of developing dialogues that took place between gig
workers, civil society groups and Rahul Gandhi at various points of the Bharat
Jodo Yatra. It began in Karnataka and Telangana, when he met agitating and
distressed gig workers. It carried on with a couple of interactions almost (two
months) later in Rajasthan, where he met gig workers and civil society
activists who were suggesting a framework for a social security law in the
state to support them.
By the time Rahul Gandhi reached Rajasthan, he had reached out twice or
thrice to talk to gig worker representatives and had also been approached by
gig workers in different places about the crisis they were facing. He was
clearly keen to do something about the problem. At the same time, he was
aware that this was an issue that was being discussed in countries across the
globe and that aggregators opposed this much-needed regulatory legislative
framework. In Rajasthan, during discussions in the padyatra, the social
security of gig workers seemed to offer an opportunity for an important
legislative breakthrough for workers’ welfare, and through that the broader
range of workers’ rights. The walk attracted policymakers and the ruling elite
who could be drawn into conversation, and served as a committee room in
motion.
As he left Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi addressed a big public meeting and
announced his support for a gig workers’ social security legislation. A
commitment from the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot followed
almost immediately. The framework went through many iterations and
discussions, but resulted in what is perhaps the first gig workers’ welfare
legislation globally! It is significant that the law was drafted much along the
lines of the consensus that emerged during the Yatra’s consultations.

Structurally Analysing the Bharat Jodo Yatra

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Social movements have struggled for decades to find recognition of their ideas
as viable policy or legislative formulations. The Yatra’s quick influence on
policy must be recognized and understood. The framing of a policy or
legislation with people involves a long and tedious process of agitation and
advocacy before politicians and policymakers with others from the ruling elite
get ready to listen and understand. It is generally the powerful voice of
technocrats that is heard and reheard among those who make policy with ease,
because of solidarities within their class. There has to be a strong commitment
in the ruling elite to listen to and act on behalf of workers before their
solutions can be heard and taken into consideration, over the din and warnings
of dire consequences by those who have a vested interest in the working
relationships that exist. Even in an open democracy, the imbalance of
economic and social power makes progressive change very difficult.
The Yatra seemed to provide a well-designed and new platform to have the
formulations and suggestions from people and their movements get heard in a
more sensitive and effective way. Perhaps this was also because the ‘walk’
(padyatra) allowed people to be heard at a pace and in a mode that gave them
confidence and strength.
The Indian tradition of the padyatra and its huge connection with people is
well established. You have to be part of it to understand how it is unmatched
in its capacity to connect with people at their own pace, understand their
living realities, and communicate in a way that incorporates and transcends
the barriers of different languages and cultures.
As a political platform for communication, the Bharat Jodo Yatra took
advantage of all this, while surpassing a lot of what was thought to be the
limit in terms of scale, outreach and openness. In a country facing a sharp
restriction in democratic dialogue, the Yatra created and demonstrated the
creative power of democratic space even as it moved along.
While the Yatra was a political one, led by a political party, its leadership
made sure it was reaching out to other like-minded parties and civil society
organizations, and soliciting the views of citizens across the country. The pace
allowed genuine, long and spontaneous conversations to take place while
walking, and during short breaks for food or rest—and as the padyatra became
part of its surroundings. The more structured periodic interactions with special
groups of people enabled the tabling and development of thought and
conversations into more concrete policy formulations, and preparing the
building blocks for necessary political change. Effective political thought and
progressive change is contingent on consultation and dialogue with the most

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affected people. The pace of the padyatra allowed these conversations and
dialogues to highlight and understand the main issues—framed and defined by
the concerned or affected people. The same issue could then be discussed with
a wide range of people who could be potentially involved or affected by the
policy and its implementation. Most importantly, in a true demonstration of
the power of ongoing democratic consultation, promises made were kept alive
and followed up on immediately. In fact, some of the credibility of the Yatra
was built on a more lasting and meaningful outcome on the concerns that were
raised. This ongoing conversation and dialectic between discussion and action
is critical to the relevance of what could eventually end up being a meaningful
political initiative or breakthrough to deal with that particular concern.
One extremely important decision made by the organizers of the Yatra was
to not confine outreach and conversations to the Congress party alone. It was
made clear that the party wanted to also dialogue with members, supporters
and leaders from other parties, as well as with independent civil society
activists. Therefore, from the preparatory phase of the Yatra, there were
groups of people associated with the party who were reaching out to civil
society groups and trying to work out how regular interactions with civil
society and groups representing marginalized people and communities could
take place in every state and region through which the Yatra would pass.
Rahul Gandhi remained the centre point of the Yatra. Conversations that
were scheduled to take place with him while he walked, and the more
organized collective discussions during the lunch break, established a pattern,
routine and framework for these dialogues. However, as many of us noticed,
the Yatra offered an opportunity for many other simultaneous conversations
with the large number of other local party leaders, civil society members,
ordinary citizens, media people and political activists walking with and
engaging with the entire Yatra. These conversations connected with the
dialogues taking place as most of them were uploaded the same day as short
videos and social media messages that were keenly watched by everyone.
Many of the conversations with other leaders and activists helped set up
meetings, and highlight issues and initiatives that the Yatra and Rahul Gandhi
would take up in the days to come.
I watched the Yatra in its different phases, and participated in it in
Karnataka (at that time a BJP-ruled state) and as part of a civil society
collective that was requested to help organize civil society interaction with the
Yatra in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. After having observed Karnataka, where
there were a large number of complaints against the government that were

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being brought to a prominent Opposition-party leader, and the party
continually highlighted them, I wanted to understand how similar complaints
would be dealt with in Rajasthan, where the party was in power. In the course
of the Yatra, it became clear that major political parties provided an important
platform for people to have important everyday grievances heard, whether
their party was in power or not. Citizens who come to them only expect a
helping hand in trying to resolve their grievances, and at the very least that the
party and its workers provide them a hearing and amplify their voices. That is
the minimum that one would expect a citizen to demand after making an effort
to reach and engage with a party-organized platform such as the BJY.
But let’s come back to the process of democratic consultation that this
Yatra gave birth to. In every state the consultation with civil society groups
followed a slightly different pattern, and the conversations and their follow-
ups were nuanced in different ways. Former civil servants Sasikanth Senthil
and K. Raju played an important role in organizing these interactions in
Karnataka and Telangana, respectively. However, in Rajasthan a civil society
coordination group was requested to chalk out a daily programme through
which a wide range of issues could be raised and affected people from
marginalized communities could speak to Rahul Gandhi as well as the state
leadership, since this was a state where the Congress party was in power.
Organizers from the Yatra continually reached out to the civil society
group during this period and made a sincere effort to see that the programme
chalked out was followed, and that if a particular scheduled interaction could
not take place for some reason, an effort was made to work out an alternative
space for the dialogue.
As a result, over the eighteen days of the Yatra in Rajasthan, multiple
groups connected with the Yatra on issues, including women’s groups,
farmers’ groups, nomadic communities, folk artist communities, youth, those
working in the health and education sectors, the elderly and the disabled. A
range of labour-related groups such as mine workers suffering from silicosis,
domestic workers, street vendors, safai karamcharis and even the platform-
based gig workers, whose periodic interactions with Rahul Gandhi have
already been discussed, could get access to state their demands.

Rahul Gandhi’s Imprint

One striking reaction that came from all the groups who met Rahul Gandhi
was how much and how carefully he listened. He asked follow-up questions

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and, where necessary, quickly sought to find a way to provide relief. Where
people were making suggestions, he did try to take it beyond an exploratory
conversation, towards policy recommendations that could be tangibly
implemented as a result of these conversations. Where the idea or suggestion
drew support and endorsement, he sought to help make these policies a reality.
For instance, in states such as Rajasthan he explored ways in which the state
government could consider formulating and implementing the policy. This is
how the gig workers’ legislation made rapid progress in Rajasthan. One group
met him per day. The number was small enough for everyone to get a chance
to talk to him properly and explain what they had come to say. He listened. He
asked a series of questions. Many came with specific grievances and papers,
and in Rajasthan he sought help from everyone he could reach out to,
including the chief minister, and redress grievances small and big.
On petitions and suggestions that involved policy initiatives, he spent time
understanding the issue and requesting senior party leaders on the Yatra to
help with follow-ups. Often, when moved by someone’s plight, he would have
a short phone call with the chief minister requesting his immediate
intervention and support. This is the image of accessible political leadership
that is sorely needed in India. Walking along, he reached out to talk to
someone from the crowd waiting to wave to him or walking at the back. He
had the freedom to do so as he was not constrained by security, or the pomp
and exclusiveness of being privileged. He played with children, connected to
their pets. He slowed his brisk pace when he was walking with an elderly
person. He showed grit and determination to be ordinary, doing what they do
—and in that being truly extraordinary.
In Rajasthan, he decided that as the eighteen days in the state would draw
to a close, there would be one meeting with all the civil society groups in
attendance together. These groups would first meet the state leadership of the
party and ministers in the government. They would each present their issues
and concerns in a couple of minutes while handing over relevant papers.
Senior Yatra coordinators and party leaders Jairam Ramesh, Digvijaya Singh
and K. Raju sat in on these deliberations. At the conclusion of this, Rahul
Gandhi was to be presented with five issues and demands that the Rajasthan
civil society felt that, if implemented, would make a big difference to the lives
of the people of the state and elsewhere.
These were: 1) The passage, as promised in the state party manifesto, of a
Right to Health law in the state. This would be a first in the country, and along
with the enhanced Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana (the state

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hospitalization insurance scheme), would provide comprehensive and equal
health coverage for all. 2) An enhanced rural and urban employment
guarantee backed by law. 3) Proper implementation of the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes special component plan legislation passed a year ago. 4)
Libraries and Constitution kendras in every panchayat. 5) The social
accountability law that the state Congress party and government had promised
on numerous occasions, but clearly bowing to vested interests from the
bureaucracy, were prevaricating about tabling, passing and implementing.
In his response, Rahul Gandhi strongly supported all five demands, and
with the chief minister of the state sitting before him, said that he could see no
reason why all five could not be done—and in an effective manner. Eventually
in the Rajasthan budget announcements three months later, all five were
converted into budget assurances. Barring the social accountability law, all
were implemented as law or policy.

Overall Reflections on the Yatra

The padyatra has come back as a political tool in Indian politics. The BJY
concluded in Srinagar and a year later another major yatra from east to west is
taking place—this time called the Bharat Nyay Yatra (BNY). This yatra
provides an opportunity to build on the strengths of the BJY. And yet, there
are significant differences, including the mode of travel. Given the oncoming
Lok Sabha elections, this yatra is oriented towards election outcomes. This is
more reason why the Bharat Jodo Yatra needs to be carefully documented and
studied for its wider and continuing impact.
In Rajasthan, of the five assurances made during the Yatra, only the social
accountability legislation remained unfulfilled. But as the BJY passed through
Punjab, Rahul Gandhi called to put us in touch with the newly elected
Himachal Pradesh chief minister, asking us to meet him and discuss the social
accountability law and the gig workers’ law. This kind of proactive effort can
only come when an idea or a set of ideas have an opportunity to take root in a
political ecosystem.
Finally, there is perhaps the most important lesson for all leaders—that
Rahul Gandhi tried to unsuccessfully pass on to many Congress leaders, at
least in Rajasthan. In Dausa and Alwar he strongly suggested that the state
Congress leadership begin padyatras every month. He told them that walking
would not only keep them healthy, but it would also keep democracy and their
relationship with people healthy. He said beginning at the top—from the state

195
cabinet—everyone should get out of their cars and security cordons and walk.
He said that like him, they would learn a lot, get confident about connecting
with people and be of real service to people—the padyatras would ensure this.
In Rajasthan, the Congress leadership was full of praise and admiration for the
padyatra, but nobody followed Rahul’s advice. Had they done so, democratic
decision-making and implementation would certainly have improved
dramatically. And perhaps even the electoral result in Rajasthan would have
been different.
As the next big yatra began, where other modes of travel are being used,
the potential of the BJY padyatra giving birth to many other consultative
padyatras should be given serious consideration. Not just the party political
class, but even civil society and social activists would greatly benefit from the
democratic culture that every such padyatra would build. Eventually, it is the
people who will benefit the most—and that will be the most lasting legacy of
the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

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Will Yatras Be Charting a New Path? Why
Not?
Medha Patkar and Guddi S.L.

N
ews of the Bharat Jodo Yatra did not come from any of the official
networks of the Congress party, but rather from Digvijaya Singh (the
former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh), with whom we share a close
personal equation. Given we have all been actively involved in grassroots
activism, we understand the multiple hardships—logistical, personal,
psychological and, most of all, political—that any yatra imposes on an
individual and an organization. And rather than thinking about possible
outcomes or benefits, our first thoughts were intensely personal. Given our
ties with Digvijaya Singh, some of our colleagues quipped with concern, ‘Will
Raja-Saab (indicating Digvijaya Singh) walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir
at this age?’ To which someone else promptly responded, ‘Why not? He
completed the Narmada Parikrama with fervour and good spirit.’ While we
were still weighing the multiple challenges the Yatra posed, on 1 August
(August Kranti Day), Digvijaya Singh reached out to Dr G.G. Parikh and
many of us civil society activists with a personal invite from Sonia Gandhi to
join in the Yatra. The invite emphasized that it wasn’t the Congress party’s
yatra, but one of and by the people. That reassured all of us outside formal
political organizations.
While we were thinking about the modalities of joining the Yatra, I was
reminded of the situation in 1930. Mahatma Gandhi launched the Dandi
March with just a handful of people, eschewing opposition even from within
the Congress party. He instinctively understood that the nation needed mass
mobilization to escalate the struggle against the undemocratic British Raj.
Despite the Congress party not understanding the importance of the march, it
eventually reached Dandi with thousands of Indians joining in. That spark
became a raging fire that lit an idea in every Indian’s heart. Similarly, Rahul
Gandhi was also following in the footsteps of the Mahatma. He, too, was
pushed out of the political establishment; he, too, was swimming against the
tide within the Congress party organization; and he, too, was trying to make

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his party and the country find their moral cores. Rahul Gandhi had made
similar fledgling attempts before, but they were perceived as symbolic and
bitterly caricatured. His visits to the families of farmers who had died by
suicide in Vidarbha, or his visits to Batta-Parsol near Delhi, or his dining at a
Dalit labourer’s home were seen as episodic. But Bharat Jodo was something
different. On the face of it, he was merely bridging the yawning divide
between the government and the citizens. But he was also trying to tap into
something more primal. Since ancient times, walking to connect with people
has held tremendous value in India. People innately see the sacrifices and
struggle involved in a Yatra as a spiritual activity. As a result, all the criticism
Rahul faced for years, from being dismissed as a princeling to a pappu
(simpleton), was countered comprehensively. He not only broke out of the
image imposed on him, but also connected to independent India like no leader
before ever has.
Even though the Bharat Jodo Yatra was largely Rahul Gandhi’s, it was also
ours. There was an open appeal to all people’s organizations and movements
to join the Yatra. Even though Yogendra Yadav (the founder of the Swaraj
Party) issued the appeal, it was not to be a centralized, national coordination
of civil society. Each of us could join as proud representatives of our
respective organizations without compromising our identities. Once this was
made clear, many individuals and organizations spontaneously sprang into
action. The impetus for us was not only to present people’s issues that have
been ignored for years, but also to connect those aggrieved to Rahul directly.
The memory of the Dandi March and the chance to voice their issues to
someone senior energized lakhs of Indians. Without waiting for the support of
any ‘mainstream’ media, regardless of political affiliation, millions of Indians
utilized social media to join the Yatra. Undoubtedly, the Congress party’s
social media ecosystem also publicized the Yatra on digital media. But it was
also abundantly clear that Indians responded en masse because their
government, our government, has not been responsive to their needs or fears
or aspirations.
As a result, lakhs of deprived, marginalized and oppressed communities
rushed to the Yatra, just to share their stories and pain. And Rahul really
responded well, going beyond just receiving applications and petitions. Using
hugs as a means of communication (irrespective of people’s caste, religion,
gender or class), he gained widespread love from the people. Exemplifying
the Marathi couplet ‘kar maje julati (folding my hands)’, the Yatra
transcended all artificial boundaries, offering a glimpse of what true unity can

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look like. Several significant and small issues surfaced during the Yatra,
constantly reshaping its overall goals and purpose. For example, during the
lockdown, we all saw heart-wrenching stories of hundreds of daily-wage
labourers walking long distances with their families, carrying a child on their
shoulders or a father on a bicycle, that the government tried hard to hide from
the public gaze. In stark contrast, for months on end, people from different
sections of society walked with Rahul, filling our hearts and making many an
eye moist with happiness. The contrast between the two parties (the ruling
dispensation and the Congress) was stark.
The Yatra was also about a young leader raising his party’s flag high and
rebuilding the somewhat dilapidated tower of the Congress. A number of local
and national Congress leaders capitalized on the Yatra and Rahul Gandhi to
showcase themselves. Not that they did something wrong, but it was a clever
and subtle way to promote the Congress without pushing it overtly. For
example, while the Tricolour remained the Yatra’s symbol, it was also
reminiscent of the colours raised by the Indian National Congress during the
freedom movement. In this spirit, Rahul Gandhi must be lauded, for he
continued to loyally promote the party even after stepping down from his post
as party president. In each step he took, he was holding aloft the party’s
legacy on his shoulders. Can any other leader in the Congress boast such
humility and devotion? Often once leaders demit an organizational post, they
just stop working. But not Rahul. He led by example and showed an
alternative path.
But by and large, the Congress party took great efforts to not project itself.
This is why leaders such as M.K. Stalin (Tamil Nadu’s chief minister),
Supriya Sule (parliamentarian) and Aditya Thackeray (former Maharashtra
minister) readily joined the Yatra, accepting that inclusivity. Considering the
Constitution and the values enshrined in it are under severe attack, this
attempt to consciously eliminate partisanship was laudatory. After all, wasn’t
the purpose of the Yatra to take people from every party and every section
along?

People’s Experience Within

When movements want to bring people’s issues and questions into the
political sphere, they face many challenges. It is not just difficult to
communicate with leaders, but also challenging to meet them. This impression
was reinforced by the fact that some Congress leaders were sceptical about

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our joining the Yatra (because of our activism against the communal riots in
Gujarat and our fight for those displaced by the Narmada Valley Project).
They pointed out that ‘We are a political party. We have to contest elections,’
but Rahul did not seem to take this to heart. Many people’s movements
insisted on reaching Rahul Gandhi, some even stubbornly so. Meeting any
other leader (even if they were former union ministers) could have meant a
cursory hearing. So when the interaction finally happened with Rahul, we met
him as collective representatives of the campaign to eradicate hatred and to
save our Constitution. Many state leaders and stakeholders actively facilitated
our meeting (both before and during the Yatra), even though some leaders
(and self-appointed civil society leaders) did try to stop us. This mutual
competition and opposition between different stakeholders was genuinely
funny to us, because it seemed so chaotic. I recall someone joking ironically
that Rahul was surrounded by security, but was it to protect him from outside
or within? But when we met Rahul, he spoke with ease, cordiality and
warmth. That made the whole experience special, and all the smaller issues
just vanished.
In the interaction, we collectively presented numerous issues from every
corner of Maharashtra. We flagged issues, including the need for sustainable
development, redressing unemployment, combating communalism and
methodically bridging the gap between power and people. Some of us were
astonished at how deeply he engaged with us, without displaying any fatigue
despite the gruelling schedule. He was also swatting away efforts by a couple
of leaders to curtail the interaction or to stop us from raising some issues.
The same situation recurred in the walking interaction. Rahul did not just
take me along, he also took the Narmada movement along with him. The few
steps we took together, and the hour-long discussion on broad issues, made
BJP leaders lose their sleep. He was genuinely attentive, even in short
conversations with Leilabai or Noorji Bhau, who were fighting in the valley of
Lavasa and Narmada. Rahul mentioned that he hoped to establish a permanent
platform within the party for constant dialogue and collaboration with
people’s movements and social organizations. In that spirit, he asked for our
advice on how to build a platform. He was eager to hear from us about our
lessons in dealing with the ruling dispensation, which many of us strongly felt
only pretended to be a people’s party but did not work for the people or the
country. He earnestly heard and understood our feedback on this matter.
We all submitted diverse petitions to Rahul, which he passed on to his
team and organizers. Although it was natural that he might have to set aside

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thousands of similar petitions and applications across India, we all hoped that
he would act on them and provide an alternative to the country. If he did that,
those millions of others who couldn’t reach the Yatra but were engaged in
struggles at the state, district and block levels would have hope in the near
future. This is a question (and hope) that was and still is in the minds of many
people.
Someone even posed this question to Rahul. His response was honest and
measured. He said, ‘Do not expect miracles from just one person—things will
not change that easily. I do not believe it ... And I also know that we have not
fallen short in any way, and you all are standing strong before us!’ This made
us laugh, but in a light-hearted yet assertive tone we replied, ‘Yes, for sure!’
This is true—the freedom of the people’s movements and the importance of a
‘dialogue-driven’ approach with political parties was thus maintained. The
various roles of the organizations related to the Yatra and their context-based
methodologies were noticed by us too.

What Next after the Yatra? The Way Ahead

Spanning states and regions, the Yatra offered a platform for local issues to be
raised—to Rahul Gandhi as well as to state and local leaders. We all hope they
have learnt from this experience and internalized it. India needs an alternative
to stand up for their voices and to stand against the politics of adharmik (non-
religious) violence and communal hatred across the country, which bulldozes
minorities and citizens (who are not even allowed to express their
constitutional rights). We were hopeful that a galaxy of Muslim and Christian
communities would swell the ranks of the Yatra. After all, given what they
were facing, they needed and wanted to join. But this was not to be. Was it
because Rahul consciously avoided speaking about riots and the destruction
they caused even in areas where they took place (such as in Madhya Pradesh)?
Was it because the Yatra overlooked those patriotic citizens who were
languishing in jail for spurious reasons? Similarly, Rahul Gandhi spoke on
multiple occasions about the right of the Adivasi to ‘jal, jameen aur jungle
(water, land and forest)’. But there was no mention of the violent attacks on
the Adivasi in states such as Madhya Pradesh. No Congress or non-Congress
leaders held any briefings on these deplorable events. Maybe it was because
they wanted to avoid any provocation, presumably to avoid any clashes during
the Yatra (which we felt that mobs connected to the ruling dispensation could
have engineered). In that sense, it was wise thinking on their part. But sadly,

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those targeted communities in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Muzaffarnagar and Delhi
(whom civil society met separately in its own work and smaller yatras) did not
have anyone to speak up for them. If the main Opposition parties have to be
so careful, how can we possibly force an open and honest probe into such
shocking atrocities? This was a question that we debated internally. While
some agreed that the Yatra should not generate controversy or provoke
retaliation, some expressed regret.
On one other issue as well there was some discontent among us. Rahul
Gandhi shows great courage in naming and shaming the Modi–Adani nexus,1
but why can’t he also stop state Congress governments from awarding Adani
multiple contracts? Those contracts adversely affect the Adivasi and Other
Forest Dwellers.2 So while Rahul is eager to join the Adivasi in their fight for
their livelihood, dignity and right over the forest, why won’t he also attack the
root cause (especially in states that the Congress had control over)? Rahul
undoubtedly heard the Narmada and the Hasdeo forest issues sensitively.
However, we were all thinking about this. Can this young leader, who
genuinely felt their pain and understood their suffering, also concretely lay out
an alternative path? And will he be able to take along all the leaders and
workers of his party on the long journey ahead? This is the question that is in
everyone’s mind today.
Along with this fundamental question is another foundational one that
cropped up when the youth who walked with Rahul sat down with me later.
What next after the Yatra? It was evident that neither the Congress nor the
youth had any tangible plans!
As someone who has been in the service of India’s people for decades, I
can safely say from experience that to be in public service, one has to devote
one’s life to the betterment of society and the people. To create lasting change,
one has to shed all personal expectations of glory and reward. In that sense, I
feel a path must be shown to India’s youth, who came forward in the Yatra to
serve the nation. The Yatra undoubtedly acted like a catalyst for the lakhs of
farmers, farm labourers and villagers who marched or just cheered it on. Even
those wearing saffron gamchhas (shawls) and adorning tilaks on their
foreheads (some from the Shiv Sena but also some from the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP; in fact, funnily, even though they joined
enthusiastically, when we asked them to take photos with us, they promptly
disappeared. They didn’t want to be seen by their seniors but couldn’t resist
the Yatra’s pull)! In short, the Yatra cut across political and ideological lines.
But the challenge remains to collectivize them and prevent them from again

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falling back into familiar divisions. Already the Congress has lost a lot of the
momentum that Rahul generated. Maybe he can become an instrument for this
purpose, for which he will need a whole new set of people with him.
Perhaps Rahul Gandhi may yet be India’s Prime Minister in the future. The
mahaul (environment) created by the Bharat Jodo Yatra has definitely front-
ended this question. Already many like-minded parties (presumably spurred
on by the Yatra’s slogan of ‘Bharat Jodo’) are coalescing together under a
common platform named the Indian National Developmental Inclusive
Alliance (INDIA). Maybe Rahul will play the role of a coordinator in this
formation. There could be multiple permutations to the alliance, but the net
impact of this long Yatra could re-establish the secular parties at the national
level!
But Rahul Gandhi has a bigger role to play in India’s politics. Having
firmly established himself in people’s hearts, he must now accept the
challenge of charting an ideological path forward. He has done enough to
expose the RSS–BJP. Now he must act. On the one hand, he must redress the
mistakes made by privatization, liberalization and trickle-down politics. On
the other hand, he has to tackle the RSS on the ground. Only he has the
ideological commitment and sincerity to do this effectively, to once again
walk the path that Mahatma Gandhi ji once walked.
Today, when India faces an undeclared emergency, when crony capitalism
runs amuck and when inequalities have exploded, we need a champion to
fight for socialism (which is an integral part of India’s Constitution).
Similarly, we need a champion to fight for the Right to Information Act, the
Street Vendors Act, the Forest Rights Act, the new Land Acquisition Act, the
Employment Guarantee Act, the PESA Act, etc. We need someone to connect
and cooperate with people’s movements, which fight every single day for
civic rights and freedoms. And we need someone who will keep fighting, even
if it means going to jail.
Rahul Gandhi is that person. He has taken the first essential step towards
this transformation. He has brought politics back to the streets, mobilizing the
elderly and the young, cutting across religions, castes, classes, genders and
parties. These people will become the agitators and the freedom fighters of
tomorrow. They will form movements and drive forward our politics and
Indian democracy. United by our constitutional values, they will save the
unity and humanity of this ancient country. For this, like the Dandi Yatra—
whether there will be a movement at the national level remains to be seen. On

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the occasion of Shaheed Diwas (Martyrdom Day), we can move forward only
if we resolve to carry forward ‘qurbani ka jazba (spirit of sacrifice)’.
It is certain that by putting forth the issue of EVMs and seeking public
opinion, Rahul ji has indeed shifted the focus of his Yatra away from the 2024
election campaigns. While young leaders such as Kanhaiya Kumar are
actively involved in creating a stir on one side, Rahul ji has taken on the role
of engaging in public discussions and public hearings on most issues and not
provoking hatred between Opposition parties and within the party, whether the
left or the right political spectrum or within various factions, be it concealed
or overt. Therefore, not only the opponents of the Yatra, but also the
supporters are constantly surrounded by a question: ‘Will the Yatra have an
impact on the Congress and the BJP votes, and to what extent?’

1 Kaushik Deka, Anilesh Mahajan and Pradip Sagar, ‘Adani Controversy:

The Political Blowback’, India Today, 10 February 2023,
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20230220-adani-
controversy-the-political-blowback-2332996-2023-02-10
2 Akhilesh Singh, ‘Adani Ammo Comes in Handy for Both Sides in
House Battle’, The Times of India, 10 August 2023,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/102584111.cms?
from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_ca
mpaign=cppst

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 Walking with Rahul Gandhi: Bridging
Hearts and the Nation
Bhanwar Meghwanshi

Y
atras have been of great importance across the world since ancient times.
Whether it was the journey of Jesus Christ, of Prophet Muhammad from
Mecca to Medina known as Hijrah, the journey of Mahavir Swami, Rama’s
forest journey, the journey of Tathagat (the Buddha), Mahatma Gandhi’s
Dandi March or other such yatras, I always felt that had I been there at the
time of these historic movements, I would have definitely participated in
them.
I am a wanderer at heart and travelling is my passion. So when I learnt
about Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, my instant thought was that this
would be a remarkable initiative and he would receive immense support and
love from the people. I also felt that this Yatra would provide an opportunity
to the people to understand the real Rahul Gandhi. I was excited and started
taking an interest in civil society discussions about the same. But when I
received an invitation to participate in it, I was overjoyed. I shared this news
with my colleagues, and they had numerous questions regarding the purpose,
significance and potential outcomes of the Yatra. To many of their queries, my
response was this: In this nation, there is immense reverence for yatras, and
when someone leaves behind their comfort and ventures out on the road,
people’s affection and respect for them knows no bounds.
However, many of our friends from civil society and the Dalit movement
also expressed concerns that this Yatra was being led by a prominent leader
and the former national president of a political party. They suggested that
individuals from the social sector, such as I, should refrain from participating
to maintain our apolitical image. I welcomed these suggestions and responded
by saying that, given the critical state our country was in, it was no longer a
matter of safeguarding personal image but of safeguarding the nation. This
was not about protecting any political party or leader, but about standing up
against forces that threatened to undermine our democracy and Constitution.
One cannot simply stand on the sidelines and remain neutral. Therefore, I

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made it clear that I would be part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and, if possible,
walk the entire length it traversed.
Working in the social sector for a long time meant that when civil society
decided to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, I was part of the preparatory
meetings. In these meetings several literary personalities, artists, social
workers and Congress representatives participated, and I learnt about the
objective and the route of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. My heartfelt desire was to
accompany this Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, but my back pain
stopped me and I spent a long time undergoing treatment at the Ayush hospital
in Bhilwara.
During this, I followed the Bharat Jodo Yatra continuously and hoped that
when the Yatra reached Madhya Pradesh, I would participate in it, although
this was not possible even then. In the end, I chose to take on a role in
coordination and actively engaged with the group working to facilitate the
participation of people from the social sector in Rajasthan in the Yatra. My
primary objective was to ensure that they connected with Rahul Gandhi and
engaged in meaningful interactions.
As Rahul ji’s Yatra progressed, he started gaining immense popularity and
tremendous public support. This was a shocking phenomenon for the ruling
BJP, the media, which has in almost every way bowed down to power, and the
harshest critics of Rahul Gandhi. When the Bharat Jodo Yatra completed a
hundred days, I got the opportunity to be part of it. The Yatra had now reached
my home state, Rajasthan, and I had nearly fully recuperated. I was eager to
directly participate in it. I responded promptly to the invitation received via
email, expressing my interest in joining the Yatra when it approached the
Dausa district of Rajasthan. I received a confirmation email and a call from
the Bharat Jodo Yatra organizing team, informing me that I would have the
opportunity to meet Rahul Gandhi in the district on the morning of 16
December 2022. While I could have participated in the Dalit Samvad on other
occasions, I chose the ‘Walk and Talk’ slot. Instead of sitting and conversing
with a contemporary karmayogi such as Rahul Gandhi, I wanted to engage in
a conversation while walking, so I could also contribute some steps in this
journey to unite India.
As decided, we had to reach the base camp set up in the Meena Panchayat
complex in Nangal Rajawatan very early in the morning. Ganesh, the son of a
female Dalit activist, Mohini Bai, reached my Jaipur residence at 3 a.m. with
his car. I was ready, so we left without any delay. We reached the house of the
famous journalist Om Thanvi ji, former vice chancellor of the Haridev Joshi

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Journalism University. He was also ready, so we took the Dausa route. I kept
talking to Thanvi ji throughout. Before 5 o’clock we had reached a place
called Meena High Court. The police security and the light coming from the
camp showed that we had reached the destination.
In the base camp, I met many acquaintances, such as Yogendra Yadav,
Shankar Singh, Nikhil Dey, Mukesh Nirvasit and my younger son Lalit
Meghwanshi, who is studying journalism and was accompanying this journey
from Jhalawar as a yatri from Rajasthan. The view of the camp was amazing.
It was not even 5 a.m. and people had already woken up and were getting
ready. Sleeping mattresses were put inside a huge tent, and tea and breakfast
had started. The yatris were standing in a queue in a very disciplined manner,
waiting for their turn. Those who raise questions about the Congress cadre
should have seen the discipline and the spirit of the Bharat yatris, the
Rajasthan yatris and the atithi yatris. Those who have even the slightest belief
in the false propaganda of the BJP of a ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ should
witness the deep-rooted presence of the Congress among the people of India.
It may not be traditionally known as a cadre-based party, but the Congress is
definitely not a disorganized crowd. Irrespective of whether they were
Congress workers, supporters or well-wishers, there was a deep joy on their
faces. Their enthusiasm, discipline and commitment to the Bharat Jodo idea
offer compelling responses to the unfounded concerns perpetuated by those
who fear losing power, and certain sections of the media.
Rahul ji was yet to come out of the temporary camp set up at the Meena
High Court. I met the state Congress General Secretary Jaswant Gurjar in the
camp. He was active in the Rajasthan leg of the Yatra as a contact person
between the party and civil society. We continued our conversation and
Jaswant ji guided us to a nearby tea and breakfast stall. He insisted that having
something to eat would make the walk more comfortable, and we agreed.
Around 5.30 a.m. the camp came to life in a flurry of activity. People lined
up, carrying their belongings, flags and other materials for the day’s walk.
Rahul Gandhi and the chief minister raised the flag, and the crowd echoed
with chants of ‘Jodo Jodo Bharat Jodo’, ‘Chhodo Chhodo Nafrat Chhodo’
and ‘Nafrat Chhodo Bharat Jodo’. Seeing such a huge crowd, I felt that it
would hardly be possible to meet Rahul Gandhi—I might not even be able to
get a glimpse of him. But by 6 a.m., I got to know that I would have to stand
at a point about 8 kilometres before Dausa city, so that from there I could be
taken to Rahul ji. I reached the said place by car as per the schedule. After
dropping me, Ganesh took Om Thanvi ji in the car to the point fixed for him. I

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stood on the side of the road and watched. There was so much enthusiasm
among the people coming and going on the road. The roads were full of
people carrying the Tricolour. It was December, a very chilly morning, but the
enthusiasm among the people made it warm. Around 8 o’clock, the first civil
society group passed in front of me, in which Jairam Ramesh ji, Shankar
Singh ji and Yogendra Yadav ji were seen. I immediately greeted them by
shaking their hands, but did not move from my place since I had strict
instructions to wait there. Within a few minutes, Varun ji, who was my contact
person for this meeting, reached me.
It took us some time to reach Rahul ji in the D circle of security. Varun ji
took me far back and held my hand, saying that we would slowly keep
moving forward. And in about ten minutes we reached Rahul ji. I saw that
Nikhil Dey, a social activist associated with the Information and Employment
Rights Campaign, and Dharamchand Khair, of the Adivasi Vikas Manch, were
walking with him. The tribal activist had probably already spoken to Rahul ji,
because I saw Nikhil Dey discussing something with him then. He was talking
about bringing a law on social security for gig workers. Nikhil ji was saying
that there were about 2.5 lakh gig workers in Rajasthan, who worked in
various app-based companies such as Ola, Uber, Swiggy and Zomato, but did
not have any social security system. So if the Rajasthan government came up
with a scheme or a law for the welfare of gig workers, it would be unique in
the whole world.
Rahul ji was not only taking a serious interest in this conversation, but was
also giving his views and asking questions. Later, during the lunch break,
there was further dialogue on this topic between Rahul ji, the chief minister
and Nikhil ji, and the conversation saw significant progress. And finally, the
promise made by Rahul ji during the Bharat Jodo Yatra became a law and,
today, Rajasthan is the first and only state in the country where the state
Congress government has passed the Platform Based Gig Workers
(Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023. According to the Act, a board is to be
formed, which will collect money from the companies and use this to ensure
there is welfare and social security among gig workers. The government
initially invested Rs 200 crore in this.
As I was getting closer to where Rahul ji was, I met the Baytu MLA Harish
Chaudhary. He said loudly from a distance, ‘Bhanwar ji, Ram Ram!’ I looked
back and said hello to him. He asked, ‘When did you come?’ I told him that I
had reached that very morning. After this I reached the second row, where I
met Sitaram Lamba, who was overseeing training activities in the Youth

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Congress and was the president of the Rajasthan Youth Board. He warmly
welcomed me and expressed his happiness at our meeting.
I was soon in the line where Rahul ji was walking. But before meeting
him, I met my own constituency’s MLA and state revenue minister Ramlal Jat
in the first line. He shook my hand and expressed happiness that I was there.
At that time Sachin Pilot and Hemaram Chaudhary were also walking in the
first row along with Rahul Gandhi. Nikhil Dey was still talking; he introduced
me to Rahul ji before leaving.
Rahul ji greeted me with a handshake and a smile, saying, ‘I’ll talk to you
in a couple of minutes. In the meantime, make your way from the left to the
right, and be careful not to bump into me.’ I followed his suggestion and
walked to the other side, where the former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan,
Sachin Pilot, was also walking. Sachin ji looked at me and said, ‘With all this
roaming, your hair has also turned grey.’ I remarked that his hair had also
turned grey! After this I talked to him for some more time, while Rahul ji
spoke to a local leader. Once he was free, he walked towards me, and our
conversation started. I once again introduced myself to Rahul ji. When I told
him that I had become a volunteer for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) when I was a teenager, he had a look of both surprise and curiosity on
his face. He inquired, ‘What was your experience in the RSS like?’
I told him that when I was thirteen years old and studying in seventh class,
Banshi Lal, a geography teacher, started an RSS shakha in a public place in
our village where we used to play and exercise. Soon we started raising
slogans in the shakha and learnt to sing songs. Our games were such that they
aroused the spirit of extreme nationalism, and we were taught things about the
minority community that could only be called illogical. We learnt that
Gandhi’s non-violence was cowardice and that Nehru and Gandhi had
together divided the country, that Muslims were invaders and had destroyed
our temples.1
I was part of the RSS for five years, and rose from volunteer to head
teacher, caretaker and district office head. I went to participate in the kar seva
to demolish the Babri Masjid in 1990. I did not reach Ayodhya, as I was
arrested at the Tundla station after Mathura. I was kept in Agra’s Multipurpose
Stadium Jail (a stadium temporarily converted into a jail) for ten days. After
returning from there I was active in the RSS, but in 1991 I took part in the
demonstration under the ‘Hand over the temple or leave the throne’
movement, where a bullet was fired and two people were killed after being
shot by the police. While they had nothing to do with this protest or the Ram

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Mandir movement but were Hindus, both were declared martyrs and a funeral
procession was taken out with their ashes in urns. This procession also came
to my village. We welcomed them and cooked food for the RSS members. But
they refused to have food at our house. A senior leader consoled me by putting
his hand on my shoulder, saying, ‘Brother, you are a patriot volunteer … You
know that the Hindu society is still rigid. We can eat food together from the
same plate, but the saints will not be able to eat, so please pack the food. I will
give it to them in the next village.’ This statement shocked me, as I used to
constantly tell my family that there was no casteism in our sangh, that all
Hindus were brothers and considered equal, that there was no discrimination
against anyone there. But now this was happening to me. The leaders of my
own organization were refusing to eat at my place, a Dalit worker. Finally we
packed food for them, which they did not eat but threw on the roadside.
Instead, they ate at a pandit’s house late at night.
This news came to me the next morning. For me to know this was as
terrible as death. I could not believe it. I visited the place, and upon seeing it
with my own eyes couldn’t help but believe it. I realized that those I had
journeyed to Ayodhya for and was prepared to make any sacrifice for were not
willing to accept the food I had lovingly prepared at home. This made me
question my place in the Hindu Rashtra, to which I had been dedicating
myself day and night, aspiring to become a full-time pracharak. I was so
broken by this incident that I attempted suicide, but I was saved. Then I left
this hypocritical and casteist organization and started exposing their mentality.
My struggle continues even today.
Rahul ji listened to my experience of joining the RSS and the story of my
disillusionment with sensitivity and seriousness. He embraced me with great
compassion and love. Rahul ji said, ‘These people have a culture of
indulgence—they want dominance over everything. They consider everyone
less than themselves. They suffer from a superiority complex. They teach
hatred. I came out to give love to people and receive love from them.’ He
went on to narrate the mythological story of Mahadev Shiva and Vishnu.
After this, our conversation focused on caste and caste census. Rahul ji
talked about why a caste census was necessary. While walking, which was
like running, he asked me if I knew how many secretaries, joint secretaries
and additional secretaries at the central level were from Dalit, tribal and
backward communities. I told him that I did not have any official data on this.
Then he showed me data on his mobile phone, which revealed that there was
not a single additional secretary in the Central government ministries who was

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from the backward classes,2 whereas, among the secretaries, only one was a
Dalit and three tribals. Only 4 per cent Dalits, 3 per cent tribals and 7 per cent
OBCs occupied the post of joint secretary.3
The Modi government enjoys votes from the OBC community, but does
not give them power and does not work for them. That is why we are talking
about caste census, so that if there is sufficient caste data, each person will be
able to get their rights as per their population. But the Modi government is not
doing this. We do not want this inequality. We want to ensure social justice for
people. This will happen only when there is data and facts obtained from the
caste census.
Rahul ji said that the Congress had always stood in favour of backward,
tribal and Dalit communities and would continue to do so. He said he wanted
the forces of social justice to come forward. The steering of the Congress bus
should be in their hands. He said he wanted to make these sections powerful,
that he wanted the Congress to give them strength. He added that Dalit and
backward caste members should come forward and take charge of the
Congress.
During his visit to Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi interacted with women and
youth from the minority community. He walked with human rights activists.
He held meetings with Dalit organizations. He had walking discussions with
activists working on tribal rights. He met activists fighting against the
environmental and ecological damage caused by illegal mining in the Aravalli
hills. He walked with girls from Dalit, tribal and minority communities. He
also met nomads (denotified tribes/communities), farmers, labourers, poets,
writers and members of the alternative media—basically from every section
of society. Whoever came to meet him was of the opinion that he was a nice,
sensitive man, who listened to everyone but also spoke his mind—that he was
an honest man. Such people are rare in politics now. No one ever said they
didn’t like him.
When the Bharat Jodo Yatra reached the Dholpur area, Rahul ji met a
group of women. He listened and responded to each of them. Sushila Bai, a
prominent activist of the Right to Information movement, also met him. While
narrating her experience, she told me that she told Rahul ji that the pension of
the elderly should be increased, because who lived for seventy-five years
waiting for their pension to be increased? Rahul ji listened to her and asked
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to increase the pension, then turned to
her and said in a humorous tone, ‘Don’t worry, you will live for seventy-five
years.’

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 I am happy that I participated in this historic padyatra, that I got the
opportunity to have a long discussion with Rahul Gandhi ji and a chance to
walk about 8 kilometres with him. There was an ideological and theoretical
conversation between Rahul ji and me. We discussed the increasing
communalism, violence, politics of fear and hatred, Dalit atrocities, political
participation of Dalits, tribals and the backward classes, and the Scheduled
Castes Sub-Allocation & Tribal Sub-Allocation Act (as passed in Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan). Rahul Gandhi also asked me about my views
on the caste census and said that he did not understand why Dalit tribals
joined the RSS. Rahul ji described his Bharat Jodo Yatra as a spiritual journey
rather than a political one, and stated that his aim was to establish love by
eliminating fear from people’s hearts.
After meeting him I can say this—talking to him while walking with him
was a pleasant learning experience. I feel Rahul ji listens deeply to every
person and expresses his views with complete ease. I can undoubtedly say that
through the Bharat Jodo Yatra he has established himself as a public leader
who truly lives in the hearts of the people.

1 Bhanwar Meghwanshi, I Could Not Be Hindu: The Story of a Dalit in

the RSS, Navayana, 2020.
2 Moushumi Das Gupta, ‘Rahul Gandhi Says Only 3 of 90 Secretaries in
Govt Are OBCs—“insult to community”’, The Print, 20 September
2023, https://theprint.in/politics/rahul-gandhi-says-only-3-of-90-
secretaries-in-govt-are-obcs-insult-to-community/1770397/
3 Moushumi Das Gupta, ‘Of 89 Secretaries in Modi Govt, There Are Just
3 STs, 1 Dalit and No OBCs’, The Print, 5 August 2019,
https://theprint.in/india/governance/of-89-secretaries-in-modi-govt-
there-are-just-3-sts-1-dalit-and-no-obcs/271543/

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 Reuniting and Rediscovering India
A.S. Dulat

I
ndia’s system of governance and statecraft has traditionally relied on a
mutual agreement between political parties regarding important socio-
economic and political issues. While there may be disagreements on how to
achieve these shared objectives, there has always been a consensus on the
overarching goals. This democratic protocol, developed over the years, allows
India to present a unified front on crucial matters such as national security,
foreign policy and diplomatic affairs. The rationale behind this approach is
rooted in the belief that all stakeholders in India, representing diverse interests
and perspectives, should be consulted. This ensures that the entire nation is
actively involved in determining national goals and outcomes. The emphasis
on inclusivity and collaboration underscores India’s commitment to
democratic principles and the idea that collective decision-making leads to a
more united and effective nation.
That consensus and process is sadly wearing thin, which makes it all the
more necessary for the Opposition to stick together. As our Prime Minister has
said time and again, a strong and vibrant Opposition is essential for the
survival of our democracy.
It is no coincidence that the Opposition parties (which today represent 60
per cent of India’s population) are forced to champion the people’s voices
through alternative mechanisms. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra needs to
be seen in this larger context. The Yatra was forced to traverse 4,000
kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir just so the Opposition could
reconnect with the people and raise their concerns using guerrilla tactics. This
could be seen as an act of desperation, but it showed tremendous courage and
concern for the nation.
Looking back at the Yatra, my mind goes back to the beginning. There was
nostalgia, excitement and expectation; and for many of my fellow citizens, the
New Year began pleasantly. The young man’s odyssey struck us all the most.
As we were discussing it in our drawing rooms, I got a call out of the blue
saying, ‘Mr Gandhi would like you to join the padyatra in Delhi.’ As the song
goes, ‘Says I to myself, says I … why would I not.’ Today it all seems like a

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reverie, but I did not mind walking as a rule of thumb. I often did so myself
when I wanted to switch off and escape the madding crowd.
The next day I got another call: ‘Will you join the padyatra at 10 a.m. at
Kashmiri Gate on the 4 January?’ Being hesitant to brave the harsh Delhi cold,
I knew that would always be too early for me! So I asked the caller, ‘Could we
make it midday?’ ‘Of course,’ came the reply, ‘we will pick you up at noon
and, instead of Kashmiri Gate, you could join the Yatra in north-east Delhi.’
Fantastic, I thought.
My son Arjun was visibly more excited to join the Yatra as we drove to
north-east Delhi courtesy of our driver and escort. But catching up with the
gargantuan Yatra meant negotiating one hell of a maze on a cold, foggy winter
morning. Ultimately we caught up with Rahul Gandhi during a tea break close
to midday in a higher secondary school. The timing was perfect, as we entered
the school almost simultaneously. Once in the staff room (which they had
converted into a temporary tea room), Arjun and I were ushered to a small
roundtable. The only person among the ten or so in the room that I recognized
was Digvijaya Singh. Even as he began to introduce us to Rahul Gandhi, the
latter said he knew me. But when Arjun introduced himself as Aditya’s cousin,
Rahul Gandhi was surprised. ‘You mean Aditya Singh of Kolkata?’ Exactly,
Aditya had been a classmate of Rahul’s at the Doon School.
As the Yatra resumed, Rahul Gandhi said to me, ‘Are you serious about
walking? You will get pushed around.’ I insisted on walking, because had we
not walked, the whole exercise would have been a farce. And pushed around
we were. I almost lost my spectacles in the melee, but courtesy of Rahul
Gandhi we did manage to walk a little, until Raja sahib signalled to us that it
would be best if we left, because the crowds were getting unmanageable. It
was honestly very surprising to see the kind of enthusiasm and fervour the
Yatra had sparked in Delhi, and that, too, on one of the coldest and foggiest
days of the year. The warmth of the people warmed every heart.
What was most striking during the walk was the reception Rahul Gandhi
got all along the route, with women showering him with rose petals
throughout. Surely, I thought to myself, the Congress could not lose an
election in these constituencies next time. I apologized to Rahul for slowing
him down, but he was grace personified and said he needed to slow down.
Watching him walk, one noticed that he never flinched, appeared weary or
despaired. On the contrary, Rahul Gandhi appeared to be burning with
idealism. I could not help but feel a soft natural bounding myself.

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 I genuinely felt it had been a journey well worth walking. When we settled
down for a warm cup of tea at home, I got a call from Farooq Abdullah, who
had walked with Rahul Gandhi a little while from where we had left. Farooq
said, ‘I have been watching photographs of your walk.’ And then added after a
pregnant pause, ‘I have never felt as emotional as when the young man
hugged me. It was a very special moment.’
I believed that was to be the end of my rendezvous with the young man,
but lo and behold, just a few days later, I got another call. ‘Rahul Gandhi
would like you to have coffee with him at 10 a.m. on the 13th.’ That early in
the morning (especially in the cold Delhi mornings) was never easy, but it was
an invitation I felt I could not refuse, partly because not many people invite an
old man any more.
It was another enchanting morning. Having been in the business of
observing people minutely, this occasion gave me an opportunity to watch the
young man closely. He received me in the lawns of his house with a hot mug
of coffee. My first question to Rahul Gandhi was: ‘How would you like me to
address you?’ It reminded me of Sunil Gavaskar’s question to Bishan Singh
Bedi about how to address Tiger Pataudi the first time he played under him.
Bedi’s answer to Gavaskar had been to just call him Skipper. But Rahul
Gandhi was more direct, and asked me to call him ‘Rahul’, after momentarily
hesitating.
We talked and talked about cabals and kings for close to four hours until I
apologized for delaying his lunch. In the end he said, ‘You said nothing. You
revealed nothing.’ Maybe it was my training, but it was not deliberate. The
only question I found difficult to answer and regretted then and now was
when he asked, ‘Will you walk with us in Kashmir?’ But we did talk about
Kashmir, and we discussed many things that are best kept private. But there is
one thing I told him that merits wider dissemination, because it is equally
relevant throughout India. I told him that the Yatra in the Valley would be the
icing on the cake, because people feel that the Gandhis are not easily
accessible and don’t find the time for ordinary citizens. I clarified lest he feel
bad that my personal experience had been totally the opposite, and he was
gracious with his time and always at ease. But that perception had built up
over time and because of propaganda, which his Yatra needed to correct.
And he did correct it magnificently. Rahu’s visit to Kashmir revived the
‘Idea of India’. The Yatra truly became the ultimate symbol of Bharat Jodo
and national integration in Kashmir. Farooq travelled to Lakhanpur to
welcome the Yatra to the Jammu–Kashmir border. Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba

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Mufti, M.Y. Tariqami and Muzaffar Shah, among others, joined the Yatra,
braving the freezing temperatures and biting cold. The turnout in Qazigund
arranged by Gulam Ahmed Mir, the former state Congress chief, was
incredible. But most of all, ordinary Kashmiris turned out in huge numbers to
join Rahul Gandhi as the Yatra entered the Valley.
His entry into the Valley with the Tricolour was a remarkable display of
patriotism and unity. It needs to be said that given the turbulent and fraught
situation in Jammu and Kashmir, it is not easy to mobilize more than 5,000 to
8,000 people. To then be met with 20,000 to 25,000 people is unimaginable.
This continued when the whole state, from the Valley, from Jammu, from
Ladakh and elsewhere, joined Rahul, Priyanka and many Opposition leaders
at the Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium amid heavy snowfall (again, a first).
Rahul’s powerful speech at the Sher-e-Kashmir park reassured Kashmir that
they had made the right choice in joining secular India. That was a very
powerful message that Rahul, the united Opposition and all the yatris sent to
the people of Jammu–Kashmir and Ladakh—that we are all with you. That
symbolic balm has helped assuage many a wounded heart, and they now look
with hope to the Congress.
Rahul’s emotional speech at the Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium changed
something fundamentally in Kashmir’s consciousness. It was warmly received
and Kashmiris showered him with love. They felt that at long last someone
had understood their travails and was sincerely listening to them and willing
to redress their problems. Even as the snow fell, not a single person moved,
some of them witnessing a snowfall for the first time. I also think that the
foundations of the Opposition alliance were laid in Kashmir. Apart from
Opposition leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, the Yatra hosted leaders from
almost every corner of the nation. The Opposition genuinely felt as if they
were collaborating on something bigger than individual partisan interests. I
purposely mention this because it is easy to overlook the extremely hard and
patient work of confidence-building. It is when such relationships are nurtured
that leaders and parties are willing to make adjustments and accommodate
each other.
My friend and colleague from the Prime Minister’s Office wrote sometime
back that Rahul Gandhi would be the next Prime Minister of India. Having
talked and walked with him, I could say that lusting after power was the last
thing on his mind. Like the story of Arjun and the championship, Rahul is
committed to his goal of uniting India and reviving the Congress party. I pray
he is successful. But I suspect that a day may come when the people of India

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themselves may want him as their Prime Minister. The boy who was his dadi’s
(grandmother’s) favourite is well on his way to becoming the people’s
favourite. It is only a matter of time.
Sadly, the fantastic energy and process that the Yatra started has ground to
a halt. Leaders and workers in the field have unfortunately not followed up on
the inspiration of their young leader. Elections were won and lost, and the
Congress party’s organization sometimes ebbs and sometimes flows. As they
say, time comes and goes, but it never returns. Presumably concerned with the
ebbing and lethargy, Rahul is again embarking on an east-to-west yatra. I hope
this second yatra does its job quickly, because we all fear that time could be
running out. But having said that, I can say with some consolation and pride
that while Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s first Prime Minister) wrote The
Discovery of India, his great-grandson is rediscovering and reviving the Idea
of India.

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 Bharat Jodo: The Power of Love
Supriya Shrinate

‘The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world
will know peace.’
—Mahatma Gandhi

O
ur freedom struggle found its shape and character when Mahatma Gandhi
travelled across India to understand the nation. Before starting his
satyagraha movement, Gandhi ji sought to travel the country via the railways
to understand the integral threads of the great and diverse social fabric of
India. As promised to his friend Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a leader of the Indian
National Congress, he put himself on a ‘probation period’ and flagged off his
travels.
What I witnessed in September 2022 was a similar resolve, similar grit and
similar desire—to know the nation. Rahul Gandhi’s decision to undertake the
Bharat Jodo Yatra was not just a landmark event in India’s history—it
redefined Indian polity too. Never in independent India has a mass-contact
programme of this magnitude been undertaken by any political leader. A walk
from the beaches of Kanyakumari in the south to the snowcapped peaks of
Kashmir up in the north. Almost 4,000 kilometres on foot with a message of
peace, harmony and partnership.
I was barely a month into my new role as chairperson of Social Media and
Digital Platforms at the Indian National Congress, when Rahul Gandhi took
the decision to start the iconic Yatra. While the idea of the Yatra was
liberating, it was a big task in my official capacity. The challenge was to
ensure our social media platforms did justice to the effort that was being put
on the ground. One had no clue about the kind of content it would generate,
the visuals that would need to be captured, how we were going to relay a
moving Yatra live, and how we would capture moments and stories that
embodied the essence of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. But amid all these challenges,
the one thing that stood out was the palpable positive energy any talk of the
Yatra generated.

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 A yatra of this scale needed mammoth planning. Planning the route,
content, the stories that came out of it … planning that would continue for
months at the same pace and the same enthusiasm.
Before we knew it, the day had arrived and we were all in the temple town
of Kanyakumari, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on 7 September 2022. I
was particularly obsessed with the first two steps that Rahul ji would take to
embark on this journey, and remember having many conversations with our
camerapersons to capture those, no matter what!
The Yatra was a breath of fresh air in Indian politics, not just because it
cared to listen to people, but because it was a genuine effort to bridge the
divide between people and those they choose to be represented by.
To me the most everlasting legacy of the Bharat Jodo Yatra will be how it
ushered in love, mohabbat, in mainstream politics. I often now wonder how
strange it is that our politics is bereft of the notion and idea of love, the most
important thing in the world. Eventually what binds us as a human race, as
groups, as a society and as a nation is underlying love, and yet it wasn’t ever
mentioned in politics before. Politics, which determines our future and shapes
our destiny, was so far devoid of love—but not any more. ‘Nafrat ke bazaar
mein mohabbat ki dukan’ will be the everlasting legacy of the Bharat Jodo
Yatra.
Our teams got the visuals and pictures first, and I often found myself
immersed in them. It was the sheer honesty of these pictures that struck me
the most. They captured moments that weren’t choreographed for cameras,
but sprung from genuine warmth, empathy and concern. Moments of
mohabbat. These pictures showed us a person who walked the talk on love in
the toxic times of hate.
One of the other great contributions and achievements of the Bharat Jodo
Yatra will undoubtedly be the safe space it gave women. Visuals of confident,
beaming women who walked with their heads held high, holding Rahul ji’s
hand, hugging him, blessing him, walking with him, expressing themselves
and proving that when men provide a comfortable and safe space for women
to thrive, to speak, to voice and to sing, women create miracles.
There were women from across the social spectrum and across all age
groups, who wore different clothes and spoke different languages, who prayed
differently, and cooked and ate different kinds of food—but they were united
in their need to be heard, counted and treated as partners and not merely
gender-representative ornamental ticks in boxes.

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 I walked for some days in the Yatra across different states and saw people
from a close range as they marched along. They walked with a sense of
purpose, their steps in solidarity for something above and beyond the
immediate. I was awestruck at how they erupted with joy upon meeting Rahul
ji. Some of them were so overwhelmed by emotion that they burst into tears,
and it struck me how Rahul ji repeatedly put them at ease. How empathetic he
was with people who met him. He greeted each one of them warmly, made
them feel special. He never stopped smiling and never wore a frown, even
when he sometimes winced in pain.
Here was a leader who was walking across the country listening to people,
their concerns and their stories. He made them feel seen, heard and spoken of.
He emphasized the need to listen in the twenty-first century—listen to
collective and individual aspirations, to challenges and conquests, and to
people, so that the path ahead could be paved with their feedback, and policy
formation be focused and directed towards addressing what people needed.
From a distance, the Yatra looked noisy. There were people all around,
there was loud cheering. People wanted to be heard. They were trying to
attract Rahul ji’s attention, but in the din it was absolutely quiet. There was a
sense of profound stillness and calm around Rahul Gandhi, a sense of silence
amid the chaos on the surface—a space that allowed conversations to flourish.
The side of Rahul Gandhi that I saw in the Yatra was one where he had risen
above being an individual and above being a politician in pursuit of only
political power. He had transformed into someone who was touching the lives
of people and making them realize that they were cared for. He was making
people feel loved. He was making them feel important. There was a different
kind of determination in his eyes, a steely resolve, a different spring in his
step. This wasn’t just his Yatra to unite or his version of the discovery of India
—it was a chance for the nation to pause, ponder and reflect.
The Yatra changed many things. It redefined Indian politics, to begin with.
It changed people’s expectations and the political discourse. And it certainly
changed what people in public life should strive for.
The Yatra changed me on various levels. It certainly changed my
relationship with Rahul ji. From being my leader and someone I greatly
admired, he became someone who inspired me to be a better human being.
Here was someone who walked the talk on virtues that he spoke about,
someone who wasn’t afraid to stand up for the right cause, no matter how
steep the price. Someone who proved that politics wasn’t just about the naked
pursuit of power, but a means to unite people, to talk about the importance of

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love. A means to ensure women were made to feel like partners instead of just
ornamental additions.
I believe the Yatra changed Rahul ji too. He has spoken on several
occasions about how his need to speak was replaced by the desire to listen.
Love and respect, the kind he evoked, cannot leave someone untouched.
But it wasn’t always a smooth ride. While visuals of people eager to meet
their leader were heart-warming, they also made some of us worry about
Rahul ji’s physical and personal safety. No one in the Yatra was frisked—
anyone who wanted to meet him could do so freely. People came in from all
directions. Given the hate that the political ecosystem fuels against my leader,
this was a legitimate concern. But he didn’t care, he was happy to be amid his
fellow Indians. He was there to listen to them, to say, ‘No matter what the
odds, I will stand with you.’ I remember being worried on one such occasion
and voicing my concerns to him. He didn’t bat an eyelid before saying, ‘I am
going to walk, no matter what. If something happens, so be it.’ That day,
walking with the courage of your convictions took a whole new meaning for
me. Courage has always been a virtue I hold in the highest regard. A man or a
woman with courage is the only one who can truly change this world.
Large sections of mainstream Indian media initially decided to black out
the Yatra coverage, but given its tectonic impact on our politics, it could no
longer be ignored. However, unfortunately, the many times the Yatra sparked
full-fledged television debates and led to grand coverage were not for the
sincerity of its message but for the unnecessary controversies our opponents
generated around it. Like always, the BJP’s IT cell worked overtime to
unleash an unprecedented disinformation campaign that weaponized fake
news with the sole intention of defaming Rahul ji. Yarns were even spun
around Rahul ji’s decision to not wear woollens or trim his beard! Our team
aggressively called out and busted fake news in real time, and focused on
conveying the message of the Yatra in its truest form—that love conquers
hate. But it taught me an important life lesson—any lie, no matter how
powerfully told, has a shelf life and the truth cannot be concealed forever. Our
opponents did their best to assassinate Rahul ji’s reputation, but the Yatra
decisively demolished the smear campaign.
All through the course of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, our country’s majestic
diversity was on display, be it different languages, clothes, dances, customs or
food (the Yatra was also a culinary tour across the nation, a delightful treat for
the palate). India’s radiant plurality opened her homes, streets, cities and
hearts to Rahul Gandhi.

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 No mention of the Bharat Jodo Yatra can be complete without talking
about its culmination in Kashmir. I distinctly remember 30 January 2023, the
Yatra’s snow-capped finale.
Standing under an open sky at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium in Srinagar,
Rahul Gandhi spoke for a little over thirty-six minutes, delivering the most
iconic speech I have ever heard. Wearing a pheran, an outfit that Kashmiri
men wear in extreme cold temperatures, and caressed by slowly falling
snowflakes that covered his untamed hair and uncut beard of over five months
(a subject of national television debates), he shared a moving account of his
losses at the hands of violence and hate. From being told as a fourteen-year-
old that his grandmother, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had been
brutally assassinated by her own security men, to answering a phone call
seven years later that brought news of his father’s brutal death. One can
imagine how scarred one would be. But it is truly remarkable how he bears no
malice and carries no anger. His losses have only made him more empathetic.
By the time he finished his speech, the stage was full of moist eyes. I
remember standing right behind his sister, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi,
who was the first to step forward to hug him. There was something about that
time in Kashmir, something in him when he turned around, something in his
eyes and his smile—it almost felt like, in that moment, he was touched by an
unknown but miraculous, powerful force. It was an energy that cannot be put
into words.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra was a ray of unwavering hope in a world full of
broken dreams. For me it was the living, walking equivalence of joy. Joy that
doesn’t need to be heralded by a ceremony or a grand gesture or a roomful of
roses. Joy that doesn’t need perfection, that enters our imperfect lives and fills
our fault lines, that makes us smile effortlessly. Joy that chooses us, and we
embrace it right back.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra chose all of us and entered our imperfections, those
crevices of hate, to make us believe in the power of love, the power of that
mohabbat ki dukaan in nafrat ka bazaar, the power of ‘we the people’. It
made us better versions of ourselves.

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 Bharat Jodo Yatra: An Attempt at
Harmonizing the Country
D. Raja

W
hen the Indian republic inaugurated itself on 26 January 1950, it was a
major historic transformation in our nation’s journey towards the
emancipation of our impoverished and suppressed masses. After freeing itself
from colonial clutches, India embarked on a journey of building a society that
our freedom fighters sacrificed their lives for. Our freedom movement’s
message of inclusivity in various streams of thought and action, the Congress-
led movement, revolutionaries, communists, socialists and social reformers
were united to free India from the British and to give our people a better
future. That shared future was to build on the premise of liberty, equality,
fraternity and justice as enshrined in the Preamble of our Constitution. The
enactment of the Constitution of India was a great achievement as it
established political equality among the differently situated citizens of our
vast country and placed safeguards for the vulnerable sections of society. The
Constitution also placed a great task before the nation, that is to graduate to
social and economic equality on the foundations of political equality.
Ironically, our country is witnessing a retreat from the promises of our
Constitution. Over the past nine years, the RSS-controlled BJP government
has insidiously misused the electoral process,1 the media, the public
institutions and the investigative agencies2 to promote its divisive ideology. It
has especially targeted the Opposition3 to promote one-party rule, which
exclusively works for the RSS and its agenda. That is why almost every
Opposition leader has faced false raids, attempts to tarnish their image and
arrests. This is because the RSS has always been obsessed with homogeneity
instead of unity. Unity as a concept respects and celebrates diversity. That is
why our freedom movement brought people from diverse backgrounds
together to liberate the country. In stark contrast, unity in diversity is not
tolerable to the RSS–BJP as they constantly seek to flatten out India’s rich
diversity, whether of language, faith, dress, food habits, culture, ideology and

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so on.4 The RSS–BJP’s campaign to constrict India’s diversities is nothing but
a Bharat Todo campaign.
The direct consequence of this deep craze to impose one ideology and one
set of ideas on India is that citizens’ needs and aspirations have been
suppressed for the past ten years. Unemployment, inflation, indebtedness,
poverty, hunger and inequalities are at record highs. The socialist traits of our
system, such as equality of opportunity, social justice and a strong public
sector are being erased. At the same time, free and fair elections, freedom of
speech and expression,5 and the right to dissent6 are being done away with.
Under Prime Minister Modi, attempts are on to replace respect and reverence
with hate and contempt. And to cover this all up, like the Modi government
did during the G-20 summit when it hid all the shanties and inconvenient
symbols of its multiple failures,7 the BJP government is busy creating the
chimera of New India. In reality, the BJP is exclusively serving the interests of
monopoly capital, both domestic and foreign, and sacrificing national
interests. It can be clearly seen that in New India’s new social contract,
citizens are being ignored and bypassed. This poses grave challenges to an
inclusive democracy such as India, which was so laboriously built over the
last seventy years.
It is against this backdrop that the Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi, emerged as a force in mobilizing millions of Indians
who have been put on mute for a decade. The consciousness of millions of
Indians, workers, peasants, middle classes and students was roused as they
joined the Yatra. They raised crucial issues and showed their resolve for a
united and resilient democratic future. The Yatra space was also shared with
other Opposition parties who represent major sections of society. The Yatra
emerged as a platform for those forces that believed in India’s Constitution
and its promise. Transcending ideological and political differences, without
losing our individual identities, we all coalesced for the shared goal of
safeguarding our beloved nation’s core values in the face of unprecedented
assault.
Inspired by the sacrifices of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh, and the
vision of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Communist Party of India joined the
Yatra to transcend the divisions and strife created by the BJP and heal the
nation. In times when a new political situation is threatening the very survival
of democracy, we came together for the greater good and joined the Yatra to
inject fresh life into the constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and
justice. I witnessed this in Srinagar, where many Kashmiris braved the biting

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cold and snow to come out in solidarity with the cause we were fighting for.
We all stood with the neglected and marginalized sections of society and with
our disempowered fellow citizens, year after year in the past decade. The
Yatra became a platform for these sections and it was overwhelming to see
them coming out on to the streets to protect the values that define us. All
sensitive and patriotic Indians received a morale boost from the Yatra’s
message.
To see the palpable plight of our fellow Indians makes me think back
angrily at how much havoc the BJP’s misgovernance has caused. Policies
such as demonetization have broken the informal sector. An anti-federal GST
and partisan tax devolution has robbed states of legitimate resources for
development work. The labour codes have disempowered workers’ rights and
freedoms. Economic mismanagement has given rise to historic
unemployment, and the mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis killed millions.
Favouring crony capitalists has proved detrimental to the social sector. And
this has been exacerbated by the BJP’s divisive politics. The repercussions of
this divisive politics are visible nationwide. No conscientious Indian is
allowed to raise their voice or even show a mirror to the government without
being branded antinational or an urban Naxal. The survival of democracy in
the country has become a paramount concern, contextualizing the formation
of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
The seeds of INDIA were sown over the past nine years. When the BJP
came to power in 2014, the Communist Party of India noted that it was not a
mere change of government, but a threat to the basic fibre of our country and
Constitution. The CPI was of the opinion that the unity of all secular–
democratic forces was imperative to remove the BJP from power and to
protect democracy. The urgency for the formation of INDIA was impressed
upon us all by the millions of Indians suffering in the RSS–BJP rule. Our
shared concern for the people’s welfare convinced us that we must work
unitedly. Different political parties and social organizations sharing and
coming together at the Bharat Jodo Yatra platform gave a further fillip to the
process of uniting the Opposition.
Now we need to do much more to channelize the positive spirit of unity
and the Yatra. For that, we need to keep posing a credible vision to counter the
majoritarian politics espoused by the RSS–BJP. Along with that, we need to
keep accommodating each other’s interests to foster mutual trust—both until
May 2024 and beyond—to protect our country and our people from RSS–BJP
misrule. And, most importantly, we need to offer a tangible ideological

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counter to the RSS–BJP. This is not just in the form of lofty ideals, but
grassroots movements and programmes. In this context, the Communist Party
of India is taking a greater initiative to strengthen the class and mass
organizations representing different sections of our people. The artificial
divides being created by the RSS–BJP have to be bridged and people will
have to be united in protecting our Constitution and the legacy of our freedom
movement. Without doing that, we will not be fighting majoritarianism and
cronyism in India in a meaningful manner.
Dr Ambedkar warned the nation about the life of contradictions we would
be entering when we inaugurated our Republic. He said, ‘In politics we will
have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality.’ This
has become more relevant today. The RSS–BJP have only furthered the
contradictions of caste, class and gender. The challenges India faces today
necessitate a revolutionary effort by all secular and democratic forces. As the
Yatra’s key message suggests, we need to unite to save India. In the national
interest, we must stand united. Only then can we re-establish the India our
freedom fighters sacrificed for and an India that is inclusive, socialist, secular
and democratic.

1 Suhit K. Sen, ‘Has Election Commission Become a Vestigial

Appendage of Ruling BJP?’, The Deccan Herald, 27 November 2023,
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/has-election-commission-
become-a-vestigial-appendage-of-ruling-bjp-2786145
2 Ajay K. Mehra, ‘The Uses (and Abuses) of Investigative Agencies’, The
Wire, 12 November 2022, https://thewire.in/government/cbi-nia-
enforcement-directorate-use-abuse
3 John Reed and Jyotsna Singh, ‘“Resort Politics”: Narendra Modi’s BJP
Targets Opposition in Indian States’, Financial Times, 19 September
2022, https://www.ft.com/content/16c0cc69-e88c-4d94-a932-
e5cb441e08ed
4 Aakar Patel, ‘Modi’s Re-Election Shows India Has Abandoned
Diversity and Embraced Hindu-Majority Rule’, South China Morning
Post, 30 May 2019, https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-
opinion/article/3012126/modis-re-election-shows-india-has-abandoned-
diversity-and
5 Siddharth Varadarajan, ‘The Evidence Is In: Freedom of Expression Is
Dead in India’, The Wire, 15 July 2022, https://thewire.in/rights/the-
evidence-is-in-freedom-of-expression-is-dead-in-india

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6 ‘India: Laws Misused to Crack Down on Peaceful Dissent’, Human
Rights Watch, 8 February 2024,
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/02/08/india-laws-misused-crack-down-
peaceful-dissent
7 Zafar Aafaq, ‘“We Have Been Made to Vanish”: Hidden by Screens,
Delhi’s Poor Feel Pinch of G20 Curbs’, Scroll.in, 8 September 2023,
https://scroll.in/article/1055597/we-have-been-made-to-vanish-hidden-
by-screens-delhis-poor-feel-pinch-of-g20-curbs

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 Hope-Filled Yatra
Supriya Sule

I
n the wake of the last few tumultuous years, India finds itself at the
crossroads of unprecedented challenges, grappling with a complex tapestry
of social, economic and geopolitical issues. The recent suspension of
Members of Parliament, including my own, for seeking a discussion on
critical matters such as a security breach and the subsequent arbitrary
suspension of colleagues, has become a glaring manifestation of an
antidemocratic sentiment normalized by the BJP government, session after
session. This distressing trend, coupled with the obliteration of the
Opposition’s voice in Parliament and the swift enactment of Orwellian bills,
threatens to cast a dark and enduring shadow on India’s democratic history. As
the fallout from these political manoeuvres unfolds, the ramifications are felt
on multiple fronts. With unemployment soaring to historic highs, consumption
expenditure hitting record lows and businesses witnessing a mass exodus, the
palpable dissatisfaction of the common man remains unheard.
In the face of such stifling conditions within and outside Parliament, a ray
of hope emerged with Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Yatra, seeking
to bridge divides and connect with the citizens of India, resonated with the
ideals envisioned by our forefathers. As the Opposition’s voices are silenced,
the streets become the arena to engage with the major stakeholders of
democracy—the people. In this context, the Yatra stands as a beacon,
reigniting the belief in the Idea of India, and the constitutional and democratic
principles it was built upon.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra was met with great enthusiasm as it crossed through
the varied landscapes of India. By the time it arrived in Maharashtra, it had
become a beacon of hope and unity. Joining this movement was not just a
decision, but an instinctive response to stand in solidarity with a cause that
aimed to bridge divides and address the concerns of the people.
Since I was committed to being part of this transformative yatra, I joined in
Nanded, Maharashtra, accompanied by colleagues from the Nationalist
Congress Party, including notable leaders such as Jayant Patil, Jitendra
Awhad, Rohit Pawar, Aditi Nalawde, Rucha Shinde and Purwa Patil. Before

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embarking on this Yatra of unity and hope, we visited the Sachkhand
Gurudwara to offer our prayers. This visit set the tone for a mission that
blended spirituality with social responsibility.
Waiting at Nanded Chowk to join the Yatra, I took the opportunity to
engage with families who had taken time from their daily lives to be part of
this Gandhian movement. Among them were three gentlemen representing
three generations of the same family, exemplifying the enduring spirit of unity
and commitment to a shared cause. The Yatra, despite its grand scale,
maintained a warm and inspiring atmosphere, even in the high-security zone
of Nanded. The chaos was not in the hearts and minds of the participants, but
in the sheer magnitude of the event, underscoring the emotional and mental
resonance it had with the people.
The Yatra’s seamless management and cohesive teamwork across states
were commendable. The standard methods followed in the past were upheld,
ensuring a consistent and effective approach throughout the Yatra. Walking in
the Yatra became not just a physical activity, but a symbolic gesture of
commitment to a united and diverse India.
As the Yatra progressed, the contrast between the Congress party’s ethos of
unity and the BJP’s inclination towards uniformity became evident. Unlike the
BJP leader’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the Yatra aimed to highlight the people’s
genuine concerns and voices. The RSS and the BJP, in contrast, seemed to
disregard the unity in diversity that India proudly represents.
During a lunch-break session, I had the privilege of walking in the Yatra
and meeting Opposition leaders, including Digvijaya Singh ji, Jairam Ramesh
ji and, of course, Rahul Gandhi. The exchange of ideas and camaraderie
within the high-security campsite and on the road showcased a warmth that
transcended political boundaries.
Attending a public rally of around 50,000 in Nanded, I had the opportunity
to meet Mallikarjun Kharge ji. On behalf of the NCP, we presented symbolic
gifts, including idols of Maharashtra’s Aradhya Daivat, Vitthal-Rakhumai and
Ghongadi, a blanket made from a yarn of wool. Jayant Patil contributed by
gifting Rahul Gandhi a photo of Rajiv Gandhi, reinforcing the unity among
political allies.
However, the grandeur of the Yatra and its noble intentions stand in stark
contrast to the grim reality facing Indian democracy, particularly in
Maharashtra. The recurring issues of defections and government collapses
threaten the foundational principles of democracy. The stability of a fairly

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elected government hangs precariously, undermining the very mandate for
which our forefathers fought.
Instead of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, as PM Narendra Modi had
promised, farmers’ concerns stand as a testament to the erosion of democratic
values. The recent trade restrictions on agricultural products such as wheat,
rice, onion and sugar, leading to significant cuts in agricultural exports, only
add to the mounting challenges faced by the farming community and the
nation. The intention to stifle constructive debate in Parliament becomes
evident as Orwellian bills are rushed through in the eleventh hour, pulling at
the delicate threads that hold the fabric of our democracy together.
The current state of the Indian Parliament, marked by the suspension of
more than 140 Members of Parliament, reflects deep-seated structural issues
within our democratic framework. This winter session has seen a Kafkaesque
climax, unveiling a palpable fear within the ruling government—fear of
dissent and the Opposition holding them accountable. Ironically, this fear
exposes a profound anxiety about the basic tenets of democracy itself.
Apart from attacking democratic institutions, the current government
excels at systematically weakening regional parties.1 This involves
manipulating MLAs through horse trading, creating splits and boosting rifts
within parties, ultimately destroying and undermining the value of voting.
This slow destruction of regional parties silences diversity in politics,
chokes representation of regional issues and centralizes power to an anti-
democratic extent. Context- and region-specific decision-making is very
important for a vast and diverse country such as India.
Overall, such attempts to destroy the Opposition pose a big threat to the
democratic and pluralistic foundation of India.
In these dark times, the Bharat Jodo Yatra symbolizes not just a physical
journey but a collective endeavour to uphold the democratic values that define
our nation. It regenerates and reignites collective hope and vision. As we walk
together, hand in hand, it is imperative to address the concerns that threaten
the very fabric of our democracy and strive for a future where the common
man emerges victorious in the face of malicious political games.

1 ‘BJP Wants to Finish Off Regional Parties: Interview with H.D. Dewe
Gowda, Former Prime Minister and JD(S) Chief’, The Frontline, 10
April 2019, https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-
story/article26779494.ece

230
 Bharat Jodo: Restoring Kashmiriyat,
Jamhooriyat and Insaniyat
Mehbooba Mufti and Iltija Mufti

I
must be honest. When I first received an invitation to walk with RG (Rahul
Gandhi) for the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kashmir, I had my fair share of
nagging doubts. Since my release from two years of illegal detention, there
has been many a time when I’ve been placed under house arrest only because
our party, the PDP, wanted to take out peaceful marches. If this was the
treatment meted out to local regional parties, I wondered how the local
administration—headed by a BJP man—could ever allow their main opponent
to walk through the roads of a state that has been converted into an open-air
prison since 2019. My fears weren’t misplaced.
As RG crossed the Jawahar Tunnel to enter the Valley, he was welcomed
by thousands of not only enthusiastic Congress workers but also common
people. For reasons best known to them, the local security personnel around
him vanished without a trace. RG was left to his own devices and the team
hurriedly left the venue, understandably owing to security reasons.
I was meant to join his Yatra the very next day in south Kashmir on 28
January. On that freezing night, as I mentioned to my mother about joining
RG, I was in for a surprise. She insisted on walking with him. As RG
traversed thousands of kilometres through the country, my mother scrolled
through his videos every day. The sight of a young man vilified and berated,
yet being showered with such deep affection must have struck a chord
somewhere with her. I was pleasantly shocked. Ever since my father passed
away in 2016, she refused to leave the four walls of our house. RG had
achieved the impossible. Seeing him so vulnerable seemed to have evoked a
motherly instinct. But I was also concerned. We were in the middle of Chillai
Kalan, the harshest period of winter in Kashmir. Would she be able to walk in
such difficult circumstances?
Despite my reluctance, my mother dug in her heels. There was more to
come. My daughter Iltija waded into the conversation. ‘Ma, I also want to
walk with him.’

231
 I was stumped. Rare are the occasions when I’m at a loss for words. I had
little choice but to cave in. Having seen RG effortlessly stride through sub-
zero temperatures in just a T-shirt, Mummy was concerned. The next day, as
we joined him at Pulwama, there was already a sea of people surrounding us,
spilling over both sides of the road. Perhaps it had a lot to do with the fact that
this was the first time since 2019 that any national leader was among them
and empathizing with their collective plight. As Mummy draped a muffler
around his neck, it was accompanied by kisses. He, in turn, clutched her hand
protectively.
And thus we began. Three generations of women from my family walking
head-to-head with Rahul Gandhi. I’ve interacted with RG on previous
occasions, but this time I saw a completely different side. Barely twenty
minutes from the time we started, he could sense my mother’s discomfort as
she gasped for air. Not wanting to risk it, he stopped and told his security to
escort her back.
As we surged through, I caught the sight of elderly men and women on the
other side gazing at RG with tender eyes. Perhaps they were reminiscing the
times when Indira ji would frequently travel across the Valley waving at
crowds.
Over the decades, national leaders have made perfunctory visits to
Kashmir. But for the first time the Kashmiris found a familiar face walking
among themselves. As RG and I started to talk about the distressing situation
in Kashmir, we were often interrupted by people from all walks of life, who
wanted to shake hands and take pictures with him. He readily obliged without
even a trace of unease. Whether it was young men or women, senior citizens
or children, each embraced him with an affection that filled the atmosphere
with positive energy.
As we spoke, I was amazed by the scope of his knowledge. It was a far cry
from the demeaning and willful image of Pappu that was thrust upon him. I
found him to be well informed as we conversed about various issues, both
national and international. I wondered how much money and energy must
have gone into the BJP’s pet project of wrongfully projecting him as an
ignorant politician.
Meanwhile, my daughter Iltija was holding on to his arm, utterly besotted.
I smiled to myself. RG had managed to charm all the three generations
effortlessly. We were so deeply engrossed in our conversation that three hours
of walking 15 kilometres flew by in an instant.

232
 The sudden outpouring and spontaneous participation of thousands of
people who joined us also had a lot to do with the growing alienation and
suffocation that’s engulfed Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article
370.
The BJP’s blunder of severing the only constitutional link between Jammu
and Kashmir and the country has ensured that an entire apparatus has been
deployed to cover the grim consequences of their actions. The only
communication the government of India has had is through weaponized
agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, the National Investigation
Agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the use of draconian laws
such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Public Safety Act.1
Fear, intimidation and suppression have become their preferred modus
operandi. From the common man to journalists to politicians, no one is spared.
Anyone who dares to go against their false narrative is hounded. Most of the
business houses in Jammu and Kashmir have been raided time and again to
drive home the point that this government wants to crush the people of Jammu
and Kashmir in every way possible—politically, economically and even
socially. The attempts to dilute our collective heritage and identity cannot be
overlooked.
During the course of my conversation with RG, Jammu came up. A wrong
impression that the people of Jammu are jubilant and have benefited after the
2019 constitutional hara-kiri couldn’t be further from the truth. Jammu, being
a commercial hub, has suffered tremendously.
Being not only a Kashmiri but also a mainstream leader who joined the
rough and tumble of politics over three decades ago, I’ve never seen such
despair and despondency in Jammu and Kashmir before. People are gripped
by a crippling sense of insecurity about their identity, land and jobs.
In such distressing circumstances, one can’t state enough the crucial role
the Congress can play in alleviating the suffering of the people across the
state. Let’s not forget it was Jawaharlal Nehru’s relentless efforts on a
personal and political level that ensured Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to
India. The people of my state placed an enormous amount of trust in his
assurances about their future being secure with India. His promises of making
Jammu and Kashmir a show window for the world is what convinced a
Muslim majority state to throw in their lot with a country where they would
be a minority, as opposed to choosing another which was created on the very
basis of their own religion. Therefore Jammu and Kashmir’s special status
wasn’t an act of appeasement or privilege, but a matter of right and assurance

233
to a state that made an unusual choice, that, too, at the risk of being subsumed
in a country where they would be othered as a minority.
Electorally, Jammu and Kashmir gives six seats to the Lok Sabha. But we
are all acutely aware of it being exploited like a milch cow in the run-up to
every election. The state in itself is a mini India, where different religions
have peacefully coexisted for centuries. For that very reason, the path to save
the very Idea of India leads through Jammu and Kashmir. Having said that,
the desecration of the Indian Constitution and the subversion of democracy
began from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. It has now dreadfully spread its
tentacles through the country.
Today throughout the length and breadth of the erstwhile state of Jammu
and Kashmir, the people feel shortchanged. If one turns the pages of history,
it’s perhaps only the Congress, especially RG, who can understand the pain
and dilemma that Jammu and Kashmir has been plunged into. I hope that if
the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) does indeed
win 2024, it makes efforts to heal the gaping wounds of my people.

1 ‘Centre Has Weaponised ED, CBI, NIA in Its Witch Hunt against Me,
Alleges Mehbooba’, PTI, 23 December 2020,
https://theprint.in/politics/centre-has-weaponised-ed-nia-cbi-in-its-
witch-hunt-against-me-alleges-mehbooba/572788/; Safwat Zargar, ‘For
Anything and Everything: UAPA Cases Are Rising in Kashmir’,
Scroll.in, 9 April 2021, https://scroll.in/article/991077/for-anything-and-
everything-uapa-cases-are-rising-in-kashmir; Mudasir Ahmad, ‘How
the Public Safety Act Continues to Haunt Kashmir’, The Wire, 28
January 2020, https://thewire.in/rights/psa-detentions-kashmir

234
 Marching in the National Interest
Sanjay Raut

I
ndia is a rich tapestry of diverse ideas and ideologies that have adorned our
civilization. Our history is replete with examples of such diversities—
social, economic, cultural and political. Every time a hegemonic force has
tried to suppress or throttle these diversities, there has been an upsurge from
the grassroots to protect the inherent plurality and cosmopolitanism of India.
For example, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj famously fought to protect the
unique linguistic, cultural and social characteristics of Maharashtra. This
virasat (legacy) is why India is universally hailed as a beacon of the melting-
pot analogy.
It is because India once again faces such a threat that I walked with Rahul
Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which transcended political boundaries and
brought together diverse voices in the national interest. Even though some
myopically attacked us for this collaboration (citing apparent ideological
differences), it was our shared concerns for the fires engulfing Indian
democracy that forged our steely alliance. Because other democratic forces in
Maharashtra also felt similarly, we felt it was imperative to keep aside
political differences and unite in the interest of the Marathi manoos (people).
That was the basis of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). The MVA’s common
minimum programme included farmers’ issues, unemployment, health,
industry, social justice, women, education, urban development, tourism, art
and culture. Under our collective stewardship, Maharashtra emerged as one of
the best-performing states during the Covid-19 pandemic. We also showcased
robust infrastructural growth, an investment of Rs 6.5 lakh crores, and peace
and stability, a stark contrast to the current scenario.
Today the steel of the MVA is necessary to protect Maharashtra dharma
from the clutches of gaddars (traitors), who are solely motivated by a lust for
power. These forces have colluded with the new Shahs of New India to
mortgage our sanskriti (culture), swarajya (self-rule) and swabhimaan
(dignity). Consequently, Maharashtra is facing a mass exodus of industrial
investments. Our youth are facing historic unemployment. Our agricultural
sector, once the pride of India, is in a shambles, with more than 1,023 farmers

235
dying by suicide in just the past six months. Rising prices of food items are
adversely impacting every household in Maharashtra.
Some of these grave concerns could have been redressed by local bodies.
However, the Shinde–Fadnavis government has refused to conduct local body
elections and illegally appropriated the financial and functional powers of
twenty-seven municipal corporations in Maharashtra. In one stroke, they have
robbed the Maharashtrian public of its agency and voice. Displaying a streak
of authoritarianism, they have also taken control of over Rs 1.10 lakh crores
of funds that these municipal corporations could have used for people’s
welfare.1
When Shiv Sena was raising these legitimate concerns, the new Shahs of
New India dastardly tried to break our spirit and voice. This is symptomatic of
a perverted belief that India should be run by a single party, which is why the
Bharatiya Janata Party has tried to cannibalize every coalition party it has
allied with. This is deeply anti-federal and antinational. But the BJP has failed
to understand that our core strength comes from the Marathi people and the
Shivsainiks, who are united in their desire to further Maharashtra’s asmita
(pride) and aakansha (aspiration). They have failed to understand that every
partner in the MVA is united in ensuring Maharashtra’s development,
prosperity and progress.
In the continued pursuit of this vision and to fight for the legitimate
concerns of our people, I decided to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra along with my
colleagues. I discussed many of these issues with Rahul Gandhi, who was
extremely empathetic to each of these concerns. He was deeply interested in
learning about minute issues that our state faces. Beyond these concerns, our
discussions touched upon the stifling of dissenting voices by leveraging the
instruments of the State. Maharashtra, and by extension the entire nation, is
grappling with a systematic attempt to undermine the Constitution and the
values enshrined within it. We both agreed that this situation needed our
collective attention and action, and taking to the streets was the first step.
The Yatra thus symbolizes our collective effort to stand against the BJP’s
assault on democracy. The MVA joined it in the pursuit of a common cause—
namely the protection of our people, our democracy and our Constitution. We
all felt that remaining silent in these unprecedented times was simply not an
option, and that we must align ourselves with the truth and the people.
I was encouraged to see that the vast multitudes of Maharashtra also joined
hands in this quest. Ordinary Maharashtrians came from faraway villages and
talukas across the state. Old women, young children, dynamic youngsters and

236
working professionals across the state raucously embraced and joined us.
They not only expressed solidarity with us, but also expressed their steadfast
determination to work with us. They enthusiastically sought to participate in
what many of them called India’s second freedom struggle. This
overwhelming encouragement from the people conferred a heavy
responsibility on all of us. It is because of this that we all decided that the
MVA alliance’s core principles must be replicated at the national level. It is
that shared concern and commitment that became the bedrock of the Indian
National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
INDIA is firmly committed to upholding liberty, equality, fraternity and
justice, as well as our federal structure. Every meeting we have had, in Patna,
Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi, was constructively dedicated to furthering the
well-being of the Indian people. INDIA is also resolutely against everything
the BJP stands for—which is obsessed with the imposition of one leader, one
ideology and one party. They have divided India with hate and violence,
simply to plunder our nation’s vast resources and remain in power for a few
years more. The Yatra, the MVA and INDIA are thus different instruments to
counter the BJP’s insidious agenda and safeguard India’s democracy. Each of
these formulations is a clarion call to all citizens to join this historic battle for
India.
We have an arduous task ahead of us. Like during the freedom struggle, we
today face the united might of the BJP’s propaganda machinery, the
Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Income Tax
Department, the police and the administration. But just like the freedom
struggle, it is the people that strengthen and empower us. I am confident that
we will collectively give a resolute answer to the BJP soon. As our slogan
says, ‘Judega Bharat, Jeetega India (Bharat will unite, India will win).’

1 Saurabha Kulshreshtha, ‘Term of Last Elected Municipal Corporation

Ends in Maharashtra’, Hindustan Times, 31 December 2023,
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/term-of-last-
elected-municipal-corporation-ends-in-maharashtra-
101704044357949.html

237
 Notes on the Contributors

Mallikarjun Kharge is the chairperson of the Indian National Developmental

Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), the president of the Indian National Congress and
the leader of the Opposition (Rajya Sabha) since December 2022. Earlier, he
served as the leader of the Congress party (Lok Sabha) and union minister for
railways, labour and employment. He has also held a host of portfolios in the
government of Karnataka. Beginning as the president of the Kalaburagi Town
Congress Committee in 1969, he has won a record ten consecutive elections.

Manish Khandur was the director of CNN, USA, and later the head of news
partnerships for Facebook India. A Kellogg School of Management MBA
graduate, he was the Congress’s candidate from Garhwal, Uttarakhand, for the
2019 Lok Sabha election and has worked with the party in various capacities.
He was the official diarist of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Utkarsha Rupwate is a member of the Maharashtra State Commission for

Women. She is the general secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress
Committee. A postgraduate from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, she is
also a permanent trustee of the Bahujan Shikshan Sangh in Ahmednagar.

Mahima Singh is a practising advocate at the Supreme Court, the convenor of

the media department of the All India Congress Committee and a national
media panellist for the Congress party. Educated at the Film and Television
Institute of India, she pursued law and served as a corporate trainer as well as
a master of ceremonies (MC) for nearly a decade.

Hrishikesh Singh is the spokesperson for the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress

Committee. He has worked in various capacities with the Indian Youth
Congress and the National Students’ Union of India. He has also worked in

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and led multiple war rooms for assembly elections. He was a Bharat yatri, and
oversaw the logistics and management of civil society throughout the Yatra.

Sasikanth Senthil heads the Congress party’s central war room for the Lok
Sabha elections, 2024, and has previously headed party war rooms in
Karnataka and Rajasthan. He was a 2009-batch Indian Administrative Service
(IAS) officer, who resigned in 2019 in protest against the prevailing political
environment. He has an engineering degree in electronics from the
Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, and has worked in the software
company Polaris Inc.

Meenakshi Natarajan is currently the chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi

Panchayati Raj Sangathan of the Indian National Congress. The sangathan
organizes Sarvodaya Sankalp Shivirs in every district. A former Lok Sabha
Member of Parliament and president of the National Students’ Union of India
(NSUI), she also led the Youth Congress in Madhya Pradesh. Natarajan has
authored a book titled 1857 Bharatiya Paripekshya and a novel titled Apne
Apne Kurukshetra. She is the recipient of the Vageshwari Samman and the
Pakhi Shabd Sadhak Samman for her novel.

Dr Anshul Trived has a PhD in political science from the Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi. He is a national media panellist for the Indian
National Congress and writes for numerous dailies. He was a Bharat yatri.

Chandy Oommen is a Member of the Legislative Assembly from

Puthuppally, Kerala. He is a practising lawyer. He served as adjunct faculty at
Amity University and Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi.
He is the chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress’s national outreach cell.
He was a Bharat yatri.

Dr Kanhaiya Kumar is the All India Congress Committee in-charge of the

National Students’ Union of India, and the former president of the students’
union of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was a leader of the
All India Students’ Federation and has served as a national executive council
member of the Communist Party of India. His autobiography, titled From
Bihar to Tihar: My Political Journey, was published in October 2016.

R. Sudha is the president of Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress and spokesperson

of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. She has worked in various capacities

239
in the student and youth wings (NSUI and IYC, respectively) of the Congress
party. She is also a practising lawyer with the Madras High Court and is a
former elected vice president of the Madras High Court Advocates
Association. She was a Bharat yatri.

Lhingkim Haokip Shingnaisu is the national secretary of the All India

Mahila Congress. She has worked in the party organization in various
capacities at the district and block levels. She was the Congress party’s
candidate from Saikul, Manipur, in the 2022 assembly elections. She was a
Bharat yatri.

Jothimani Sennimalai, also known simply as Jothimani, was elected to the

Lok Sabha from Karur, Tamil Nadu, in 2019. She served as a councillor of the
K. Paramathi panchayat union for two terms from 1996 to 2006. She served
separate terms as the general secretary and vice president of the Indian Youth
Congress and the Tamil Nadu Youth Congress, respectively. She has authored
Ottrai Vasana, a short-story collection, and Sithirak Koodu, a novel. She won
the Ilakkiya Chinthanai Award for Best Short Story in 1999 and the Shakthi
Award for Best Short Story Collection, 2007.

Professor Ajay Gudavarthy is an associate professor, Centre for Political

Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was earlier a visiting
professor, Centre for Modern Indian Studies, Gottingen University, Germany.
His publications include Politics, Emotions and Ethics in ‘New India’ (2023),
Politics of Post-Civil Society: Contemporary History of Political Movements
in India (2013), Maoism, Democracy and Globalisation: Cross-Currents in
Indian Politics (2014) and India after Modi: Populism and the Right (2018).
He is currently an associate member of the Institute for the Humanities, Simon
Fraser University, Canada.

Salman Khurshid Alam Khan served as the union minister of external

affairs, law and justice, and minority affairs in the Government of India. He is
also a designated senior counsel in the Supreme Court of India, a prolific
writer and a columnist. A senior member of the Indian National Congress, he
started his career as an officer on special duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO) under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was also the president
of the Delhi Public School Society and the Dr Zakir Hussain Study Circle, and
a patron of the Mother Teresa Memorial Trust.

240
Sandesh Bhandare is a photographer based in Pune. Trained as a graphic
designer, he has worked as a professional photographer for more than three
decades, with many solo and group exhibitions to his credit. He is the
recipient of the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) grant to photo-document
the Tamasha folk art form and the lives of its performers in 2001. He has
written Wari Ek Anandyatra (2015) and Asahi Ek Maharashtra in Marathi.

Darshan Mondkar has been a social and political commentator since 2010.
His articles have been published in various leading news platforms such as
The Citizen, National Views, The News Minute, HuffPost, The Quint and
National Herald.

Dr Ganesh N. Devy writes in three languages. He is the founder of the

Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh and the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes Rights
Action Group. He is also the Samruddha Bharat Foundation’s adviser. He led
the People’s Linguistic Survey of India, which is published in fifty volumes
covering seventy languages. Devy has received several literary awards and
honours, including the Padma Shri in 2014. Painted Words, his collection of
literature on the Adivasi and nomadic communities, was published in 2003.

Professor Mridula Mukherjee retired as a professor of modern Indian

history and dean of the School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi. Professor Mukherjee has been the director of the
Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, and a visiting scholar at Duke
University in the US and at the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of
Tokyo. She is also a trustee of the Samruddha Bharat Foundation. She has
been published widely in the areas of agrarian history, peasant movements,
social movements and the Indian independence movement. Her publications
include India’s Struggle for Independence (1999) and India after
Independence: 1947–2000 (2000), both co-authored.

Professor Aditya Mukherjee retired as the professor of contemporary Indian

history at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi. He is the editor of the SAGE Series in Modern Indian History; a
member of the Scientific Community, International Review of Sociology,
Rome; the regional editor of the International Journal of Asian Studies,
Tokyo; and a member of the editorial committee, Studies in People’s History.

241
Professor Mukulika Banerjee is an associate professor at the department of
anthropology and a former director of the South Asia Centre, London School
of Economics and Political Science. She has authored Cultivating Democracy:
Politics and Citizenship in Agrarian India (2021) and Why India Votes?
(2014). She is a regular commentator on BBC World, BBC Radio Analysis
and the National Geographic Channel on a variety of events related to South
Asia, in a range of South Asian languages, including English, Hindi and Urdu.

Sridhar Radhakrishnan is an engineer by profession. He has taught in

various institutions for eight years. He resigned from government service in
1997 and has since been actively involved in environmental health and justice.
He is on the steering committee of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic
Agriculture (ASHA Kisan Swaraj); is a director in the Thirunelly Agri
Producer Company (TAPCo), a farmer-producer organization based in
Wayanad, Kerala; the deputy national coordinator of the Save Our Rice
Campaign; and the convener of a movement in India called the Coalition for a
GM-Free India. He has authored two books related to the environment and
resource use, and co-authored A Green Print for Sustainable Kerala: Lessons
for Existence.

Nikhil Dey is a social activist and a founding member of the Mazdoor Kisan
Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), a workers’ and peasants’ empowerment
organization. The Rajasthan-based MKSS has helped lead successful
campaigns for the landmark Indian legislation for the Right to Information
and the Right to Work. He is involved with Jan Sarokar, a network of Indian
social movements, and was a member of the steering committee of the Open
Government Partnership from 2011 to 2014.

Medha Patkar is a social activist and reformer. She is the founder-member of

the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the National Alliance of People’s
Movements. An alumnus of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, she has
received several awards for her work in the areas of socio-economic justice,
equity and political justice, among others. She contested the Lok Sabha
election from Mumbai North East constituency in 2014.

Guddi S.L. is the managing editor of the Janta Weekly and a committee
member of the Yusuf Meherally Centre. She has been associated with the
National Alliance for People’s Movements for the past eighteen years. A

242
social activist, she worked at the National Service Scheme. Educated at the
University of Mumbai, she is associated with numerous people’s movements.

Bhanwar Meghwansh joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at

the age of thirteen. Since leaving the RSS in 1991, he has been an activist and
a journalist chronicling the Dalit movement. He divides his time between
overseeing the Ambedkar Bhavan in Sirdiyas and his political work, which
takes him across the country. Main Ek Swayamsevak Tha (2019) was his first
book.

Amarjit Singh Dulat joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1965 and then
the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in 1969, where he served for almost thirty years.
At IB he served as the former special director during the turbulent 1990s, until
he joined and headed the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). He later
joined the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) under Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee. Since leaving the government in 2004, he has been active on the
track-two circuit. He is the author of Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years (2015) and
A Life in the Shadows (2022), and co-author of The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI
and the Illusion of Peace (2018).

Supriya Shrinate is the chairperson of Social Media & Digital

Communications, Indian National Congress. She is a member of the Congress
Working Committee and the national spokesperson of the INC. She contested
the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh. Before
joining active politics, she was a journalist for twenty years and the executive
editor of the Times Group.

Doraisamy Raja has been the general secretary of the Communist Party of
India (CPI) since July 2019. He was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in July
2007 from Tamil Nadu and was re-elected in 2013. Prior to this, he served as
the national secretary of the CPI from 1994 until 2019. He was the state
secretary of the Tamil Nadu unit of the All India Youth Federation from 1975
to 1980, and was then elected general secretary from 1985 to 1990. He has
authored Dalit Question: The Way Forward (2007) and Marx and Ambedkar:
Continuing the Dialogue (2018).

Supriya Sule has been a Member of Parliament from Baramati, Maharashtra,

since 2009. She has been the working president of the Nationalist Congress
Party since 2023. She was earlier a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, from

243
Maharashtra, from 2006 to 2009. She is a trustee of the Nehru Centre in
Mumbai. She launched the Rashtravadi Yuvati Congress to give a platform to
young girls in politics and create a network for them across Maharashtra.

Mehbooba Muft is president of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic

Party (PDP). She was the first female chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
She is also a former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha. She is a graduate of
English literature from the Government College for Women in Jammu, and
has a law degree from the University of Kashmir.

Iltija Muft is media adviser to the president of the PDP. She is a graduate of
political science from Delhi University and has a master’s degree in
international relations from Warwick University in the United Kingdom.

Sanjay Raut is a four-term Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, from

Maharashtra and a member of the coordination committee of the Indian
National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). He is the executive
editor of Saamana, a Marathi daily, and the author of several Marathi books.
He is also the writer of Thackeray, a biopic on Bal Thackeray, the founder of
Shiv Sena, which was released in 2019.

244
The Samruddha Bharat Foundation (SBF) works to forge an India that is a
global superpower, a cosmopolitan beacon of democracy and accommodative
of all diversities. It does so by constructively reshaping India’s:

Software (transforming mass consciousness, public discourse, popular

and social culture and education, as well as by nurturing principled
coalitions); and
Hardware (reforming policies, institutions and governance to reorder
India’s polity).

In breathing life into these goals, the SBF works closely with India’s
progressive parties, the foremost thinkers, activists, diaspora, professionals as
well as a plethora of organizations. The SBF thus serves as a clearing house
for all progressive forces. For further details, scan the QR code below:

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 About the Book

This is the definitive account of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the epic 4,000-
kilometre nationwide march from September 2022 to January 2023 under the
stewardship of Rahul Gandhi, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and former
President of the Indian National Congress. This book is a comprehensive map
of the why, what and how of this Herculean undertaking. Going beyond the
symbolic, it strives to capture the aspirations and reflections of the yatris and
organizers, and the eminent Indians who joined the Yatra from Kanyakumari
to Kashmir. In doing so, it also attempts to understand and embrace India’s
vast diversities.

This book highlights the many layers of meaning underpinning the Yatra.

‘BharatJodo’ meant different things to different people, and therefore had

multiple social, economic, political and cultural meanings—which a galaxy of
India’s foremost academics, activists, politicians and citizens from all walks
of life speak to. But what connects these diverse meanings is that the Yatra
was primarily a clarion call to all patriots to reclaim our collective humanity,
and hence India’s soul.

272
 About the Editors

Pushparaj Deshpande is the director of the Samruddha Bharat Foundation.

He is the series editor of the Rethinking India volumes, the Reshaping India
volumes and the co-editor of The Great Indian Manthan: State, Statecraft and
the Republic. He writes for numerous national dailies. He has worked with
various legislators, the Rajya Sabha TV, the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for
Contemporary Studies and the Indian National Congress. He is a former
LAMP fellow with PRS Legislative Research. He walked in the Bharat Jodo
Yatra and helped with civil society outreach and interactions in a few states.
He tweets as @PushparajVD

Ruchira Chaturvedi is currently the national convenor of Social Media and

Digital Communications, Indian National Congress, and has previously
worked with the party in various capacities. She is also a Konrad Adenauer
School for Young Politicians fellow and an American Council of Young
Political Leaders delegate. She was a former LAMP fellow with PRS
Legislative Research. She walked in the Bharat Jodo Yatra and coordinated its
social media activities. She tweets as @RuchiraC

273
At HarperCollins India, we believe in telling the best stories and finding the
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As we look to the future, we go back to that one word—a word which has
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Read.

274
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 First published in India by HarperCollins Publishers 2024
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Copyright © Samruddha Bharat Foundation 2024

P-ISBN: 978-93-5699-941-1
eBook Edition © March 2024 ISBN: 978-93-5699-671-7

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