Although the four-month long foot march did not change the political landscape, it did promote democracy and put the Congress in the forefront of opposition politics. In the first phase of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started in Kanyakumari over four months ago, Rahul Gandhi has walked more than 3,500 kilometres. This is no small accomplishment considering the former president of the Congress has been walking about 30 kilometres every day without taking many breaks. As the new year begins, he still intends to walk 500 more miles, this time from Uttar Pradesh, the state with the most population in India.
Since the very beginning of the remarkable mass outreach effort, sceptics had their doubts about the Yatra’s political influence. Gandhi is nevertheless unfazed, despite the fact that the Congress has only chosen to discuss its long-term political implications. He has not only been able to motivate party officials and cadres, but he has also proven to be a tough, physically fit, and determined leader in his own right.
He remains the same despite what may appear to be a significant change from how he appeared in the lead-up to the 2019 parliamentary elections: a warm personality with a strong spiritual side, willing to sacrifice everything to give India the boost it needs on the international stage, and appearing to be impervious to corruption. He was only given the opportunity to display his secret personality traits during the Yatra, which were before restricted to his one-on-one conversations in drawing rooms.
Over the course of the Yatra, Gandhi has truly come to represent the liberal dream. And that has been highlighted by the widespread support he has gotten in recent months. The Yatra has attracted civil society organisations, actors and actresses, social and political activists, professionals, and regional leaders thanks to his efforts, such as writing personalised letters of invitation, holding hands of fellow walkers, or even waking up every day at 4 am to lead the Yatra.
More significantly, the Yatra has helped the party’s organisational issues. Whether it be in Rajasthan, where Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his rival Sachin Pilot have been at odds, or even D.K. Shivakumar and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who appeared to put aside their differences to walk alongside Gandhi in the Yatra, the party has undoubtedly come across as a united front.
Rahul Gandhi has been collaborating with Mallikarjun Kharge, the newly elected party leader, as there doesn’t appear to have been any point of disagreement between the two up until this moment, at least to the public. The notion that Kharge could have to serve as yet another presidential puppet has been dispelled by this. But in addition to demonstrating excellent synergy, the Kharge-Gandhi team also succeeded in streamlining the entire top leadership in order to achieve a single objective.