Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul Gandhi’s unity march ends in Kashmir

Rahul Gandhi (in white C) waves at supporters and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti (R) during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Anantnag, South Kashmir Getty Images

Rahul Gandhi, MP and a senior chief of India’s main opposition Congress celebration, is at the end of his 4, 000km (2, 485-mile)-long “unity march” across Indian.

The five-month-long march began in Kanyakumari in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, and finished in Srinagar, the main city of Jammu plus Kashmir.

The mar has drawn large crowds across the country, with a number of celebrities promoting it.

Analysts, nevertheless , say it is not clear if this will lead to votes.

Mr Gandhi has said the mar – called Bharat Jodo Yatra — was aimed at uniting Indians against hatred and fear becoming spread in culture.

Political analysts say it is also aimed at refreshing the flagging spirits of the beleaguered Congress party which has been in free fall given that 2014, when Excellent Minister Narendra Modi swept to strength in India.

The march culminates in a stadium in Srinagar where more than a dozen leaders from opposition parties are required to attend a rally in a show of oneness.

The Congress MP said he had received a “great response” across the country.

“The yatra’s purpose can also be that people of this nation get to hear accurate voice of the country, ” he informed a press meeting on Sunday.

“We saw the resilience and strength from the people of India during this journey. We all also got to hear about the issues being faced by farmers plus unemployed youth in the united states, ” he additional.

In November 2022, Mr Gandhi informed the BBC’s Nikhil Inamdar that he had been trying to “seed another vision for the concept of India through this particular march”.

“With more work, this has the capability to decimate the particular ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), inch he said.

Since that time, however , Mr Gandhi and Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh have got said that the 03 should not be linked with electoral politics.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi and his supporters hoists the National Flag during 'Bharat Jodo Yatra at Lal Chowk in Srinagar

Getty Images

In Rajasthan, Mr Ramesh recently informed reporters that the Bharat Jodo Yatra was not a march to win elections.

Sociologist Shiv Vishwanathan told BBC Hindi’s Iqbal Ahmed that Mr Gandhi’s personal ideas of what the march could be transformed with time – starting initially with targeting the BJP but then moving onto realising the need for a new type of politics.

Mr Vishwanathan said the mar was made distinctive by the participation associated with non-political people.

“I do not think that Rahul Gandhi is the hero of this journey, ” he told BBC Hindi. “The heroes of the yatra would be the Indians who joined up with it and informed Rahul Gandhi that will today’s party politics is hollow. ”

Apart from ordinary people and party workers, the march was joined by actors such as Urmila Matondkar, Swara Bhaskar, Pooja Bhatt, Riya Sen, activists Anand Patwardhan, Aruna Roy, Radhika Vemula, musician TM Krishna, comedian Kunal Kamra and previous Reserve Bank associated with India governor Raghuram Rajan.

There has been a few speculation that the mar puts the Congress at the front and center of a combined resistance front for next year’s general elections.

But opposition celebrations told BBC Hindi that it is still not clear what the march opportinity for the Congress as well as fight against the ruling BJP.

A lot will depend on how the Our elected representatives performs in condition elections – such as Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – later in the year where the Our elected representatives is in a direct contest with the BJP.

“Rahul Gandhi has proved that he should be used more seriously, but I don’t think he can be called the encounter of the opposition however, ” senior reporter Smita Gupta told BBC Hindi.

Mr Vishwanathan informed against the Congress party’s history of falling in short supply of people’s expectations and the danger of it reverting to its previous ways.

“If Rahul Gandhi wants to do politics with civil society, then he will have to reform the Our elected representatives into a new political party of the future. However it will take a miracle. ”

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