Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was coordinating the initiative by urging party personnel and the general people to walk from Kanyakumari at India's southernmost tip to the union state of Jammu and Kashmir, a trek of 4,080 kilometres (2,540 miles) over over 150 days.
The Indian National Congress ("the Congress" or INC") organized the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a large-scale protest. Rahul Gandhi, a senior member of the Congress, was in charge of directing the movement by encouraging members of the party and the general public to walk 4,080 kilometers (2,540 miles) over nearly 150 days from Kanyakumari, at the southernmost point of India, to Jammu and Kashmir, a union territory.
The campaign, according to INC, was created to bring the nation together in opposition to the "divisive policies" of the BJP-led government of India. Rahul Gandhi and M. K. Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, announced the Bharat Jodo Yatra initiative on September 7, 2022. Its major goal was to express opposition to the economics of livelihood destruction, rising unemployment, and expanding inequality as well as the politics of "fear, intolerance, and prejudice." [8] In addition to electing a new party leader during the movement, the INC also secured a majority in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election in 2022, the first majority it had achieved by itself since 2018.
Background
Used at the protest was a flag from the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
On August 23, 2022, at AICC headquarters, the Indian National Congress unveiled the Bharat Jodo Yatra website, slogan, and logo. On September 7, the march began at Kanyakumari. A 3,570 km (2,220 mi) long, 150-day "non-stop" march across 12 states and two Union Territories was the aim of the march. Rahul Gandhi, a Congress MP, will interact with people during the day and stay in temporary housing at night while participating in the march. These temporary lodgings were movable containers designed and constructed by Tata Corporation. The whole march, which would take place on foot, would begin in Kanyakumari and finish in Srinagar. Approximately 23 km (14 mi) of marching was planned for each day.
The march traveled more than 3,000 kilometers by December 2022. (1,900 mi). [14] The Bharat Jodo Yatra resembles the almost 4,260-kilometer (2,650 mi) long Bharat Yatra march of 1983 led by former Indian prime minister Chandra Shekhar.
Schedule
A ll India - Tentative Yatra Schedule
State / UT
Entry Date
No. of days
Key places
7 & 29 September
4
Kanyakumari
10 September
18
Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur
30 September
21
Mysore, Bellary, Raichur
18 October
4
D. Hirehal, Alur
23 October
12
Vikarabad, Hyderabad
7 November
14
Nanded, Jalgaon Jamod
23 November
16
Mhow, Indore, Ujjain
4 December
18
Jhalawar, Alwar, Kota, Dausa
21 December & 6 January
12
Ambala, Faridabad
24 December
2
Badarpur, Rajghat
3 January
5
Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr
10 January
11
Pathankot
18 January
1
Kangra district
19 January
11
Lakhanpur, Jammu, Srinagar
Methods
Mile Kadam, Jude Vatan ("walk together, unite the country"), Mehengai Se Nata Todo ("break ties with inflation, unite India"), Berozagari Ka Jaal Todo ("break the web of unemployment, unite India"), Nafrat Chhodo ("quit hate, unite the country"), and Samvidhan Bachao ("save the constitution") are just a few of the slogans, poems, and songs that were used during Every day during the break, the padayatra, or marchers, would engage in conversation with representatives of civil society. Throughout the march, public rallies were also conducted. Rahul Gandhi's public event at Ballari on October 15 under a downpour received extensive media coverage.
Participants
There were three distinct sorts of Padyatris over the five-month yatra. Bharat Yatris are the pilgrims who will walk the whole yatra. The second batch of marchers will be Atithi Yatris, visitors from states that the Bharat Jodo Yatra is not passing through. The final group to complete the march will be the Pradesh Yatris, a group of 100 yards from the states the march is passing through and who will take part in the yatra in that state. Whenever they feel like it, 300 pediatrics will start marching. Among the notables who are participating in the yatra
· Rahul Gandhi, former president of the Congress party
· Jairam Ramesh, Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha
· Bhupesh Baghel, incumbent Chief minister of Chhattisgarh
· Pawan Khera, AICC social media chairman
· Kanhaiya Kumar, a political activist from the Congress party
· Vijay Inder Singla, former Punjab cabinet minister
· Siddaramaiah, former chief minister of Karnataka
· Oommen Chandy, former chief minister of Kerala
· Sachin Pilot, former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan
· Revanth Reddy, president of Telangana PCC
· Mani Shankar Aiyar , former MP for Mayiladuthurai .
- Swara Bhaskar, a Bollywood actress
Supporters
The Bharat Jodo Yatra has received support from or membership from several grassroots movements. The INC made a call for people, groups, and movements to participate in the yatra. More than 200 representatives of civil society have urged people to support the Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress. Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, and Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister, were each asked by the Congress to participate in the yatra. Nitish Kumar opted not to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Late in September, when the protest march was about to approach Karnataka, at least 89 state-based groups declared their support for and participation in the demonstration. Devanur Mahadeva, an author, and G. N. Devy, a literary critic, are prominent marchers in Karnataka.
· Aruna Roy, co-founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
· Yogendra Yadav, founder of Swaraj India [30]
· Ganesh Devy, writer, and cultural activist
· Syeda Hameed, a former member of the Planning Commission
· Bezwada Wilson, the founder of the Safai Karmachari Andolan
· Mrinal Pande, Indian journalist
· Dharamvir Gandhi, former MP from the Aam Aadmi Party
· Anjali Bhardwaj , Indian social activist
· Sujata Rao, Indian civil society member
· Abhijit Sengupta, Indian civil society member
· Sridhar Radhakrishnan, environmental activist
· C. R. Neelakandan, environmental activist [
· Amol Palekar and Sandhya Gokhale , Director and Writer
· Rashmi Desai, TV actress
· Akanksha Puri, Indian actress, and model
· Riya Sen , Actress
· Ramesh Pisharody, Comedian
Week 1 (7-13 September)
On September 7, 2022, Rahul Gandhi began the yatra at Kanyakumari after paying respect to Swami Vivekananda, Thiruvalluvar, and his late father Rajiv Gandhi. The Congress claimed that the yatra was "India's greatest mass interaction campaign," through which Delhi would be made aware of public concerns.
Week 2 (14-20 September)
On September 14, when Rahul Gandhi paid tribute to Sri Narayana Guru, the yatra arrived at Kollam. When he saw local cashew workers, he committed to raising their complaints at the next parliamentary session. During this week, the yatra traveled through towns including Kollam, Alappuzha, and Kochi.
Week 3 (21-27 September)
On September 22, Rahul Gandhi presented flowers to Mahatma Gandhi in Kochi. BJP leaders made up information that the protest march's break on September 23 was in support of the Popular Front of India (PFI). John Cusack, a well-known Hollywood actor, showed support for Rahul Gandhi. The Bharat Jodo Yatra regulation petition was denied by the Kerala High Court. On September 29, the protesters invaded the Tamil Nadu cities of Thrissur, Malappuram, and Gudalur.
Week 4 (28 September-4 December)
The yatra ended on September 28 in Kerala before moving on to Tamil Nadu and ultimately Karnataka. The next day, it made it to Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. It arrived in Karnataka on September 30, drawing sizable crowds. [49] The PayCM campaign came under police scrutiny. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi, Rahul Gandhi presented flowers to Mahatma Gandhi. In addition, he criticized the BJP for how it handled the COVID-19 outbreak in Karnataka. Yatra stopped on October 4 at Mandya.
Week 5 (5-11 October) (5-11 October)
Despite being ill, Sonia Gandhi attended the yatra on October 6. The family of the late journalist Gauri Lankesh joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra as it completed 30 days of travel. [55] The Tumakuru district's local populace responded to the yatra with an astounding level of support. On October 11, it arrived in the Chitradurga district.
Week 6 (11-17 October)
In the area of Chitradurga, Rahul Gandhi met young people without jobs. The Kannada language and other regional languages were emphasized by the Congress. On October 14, the yatra visited the Andhra Pradesh district of Anantapur, gathering a sizable throng. The following day, it returned to Karnataka after traveling 620 miles (1,003 kilometers) in the Bellary district.
Week 7 (18-24 October)
On October 18, the yatra returned to Karnataka through the Kurnool district before leaving again on October 21.
On October 23, the yatra arrived in Telangana. This was followed by a three-day respite for Diwali.
Week 8 (25-31 October)
The yatra started in Telangana on October 27 after a break for Diwali, drawing sizable audiences. Numerous important districts, including Mahabubnagar, Narayanpet, Sangareddy, and Ranga Reddy, were traversed. On October 29, 2022, when the marchers neared Jadcherla, a town in the Mahabubnagar district, Rahul Gandhi was joined by Tollywood star Poonam Kaur.
Week 9 (1-7 November)
The mother of the late Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula accompanied Rahul Gandhi on the Bharat Jodo Yatra on November 1, 2022, as they traveled to Hyderabad.
More than 32 years after his father, then-party leader Rajiv Gandhi, had launched the Sadbhavna Yatra from the same location on October 19, 1990, Rahul Gandhi raised the national flag in front of the Charminar.
On November 2, 2022, the 56th day of the protest march, actor and director Pooja Bhatt joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Hyderabad.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Maharashtra on the evening of November 7, 2022, the 61st day of the march. The yatra traveled from Menuru village in Telangana's Madnoor Mandal area to Maharashtra's Nanded district.
Week 10 (8-14 November)
Sushant Singh, a Bollywood actor, joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Nanded on November 10, 2022.
Aaditya Thackeray, the leader of the Shiv Sena and a former Maharashtra minister, participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the Hingoli area on November 11, 2022. It is now day 65 of the march and day five in Maharashtra.
Week 11 (15-21 November)
Activist Medha Patkar joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Washim on November 16, 2022. Actress Riya Sen participated in the march in Akola on November 17, 2022. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, according to Rahul Gandhi, aided the British. Rahul was accompanied by actress Mona Ambegaonkar and Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, on November 18, 2022, at the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Shegaon, Buldhana district. Actors Rashami Desai and Akanksha Puri, as well as actor-turned-politician Nagma, joined the march in Buldhana district on November 19, the birthday of Indira Gandhi.
Week 12 (22-28 November)
Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh on November 24, 2022. Rahul Gandhi declared at Burhanpur that the yatra was a march against the violence, terror, and hatred that are spreading throughout India. Gandhi discussed joblessness and farm difficulties with laborers from the Burhanpur region who worked on banana plantations and power looms. Digvijaya Singh, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, downplayed the yatra's political influence.
Bharat Jodo Yatra, according to Congress's director of communications Jairam Ramesh, is a mechanism for the party to engage with the populace. Congress now feels confident enough to organize similar marches from west to east in 2023 after the response to the protest march. Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot were both referred to by Rahul Gandhi as assets to the party. Currently in the seventh state, the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The yatra, according to Rahul Gandhi, had expanded beyond the Congress and had begun "echoing the voice of India."
According to Congress communication leader Jairam Ramesh, the Bharat Jodo yatra is a mechanism for the party to engage with the people. The response to the protest march has given Congress the confidence to organize similar marches from west to east in 2023. [93] Rahul Gandhi hailed Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot as assets to the party. Bharat Jodo Yatra had reached the seventh state.
Week 14 (6-12 December)
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said on December 9, 2022, that the Bharat Jodo Yatra will depart on December 25 for a nine-day holiday and return on January 3, 2023.
The Yatra was set to arrive in Delhi on December 24, and the 60 containers will be repaired in Noida. Digangana Suryavanshi, an actress, took part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Bundi district on December 11, 2022.
Week 15 (13-19 December)
The Bharat Jodo Yatra commenced on December 13 from Jeenapur in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district. The next day, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan attended the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Sawai Madhopur district.
Week 15 (December 13-19)
The Bharat Jodo Yatra began on December 13 in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district, from Jeenapur. The next day, Raghuram Rajan, the former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Sawai Madhopur district.
On December 16, 2022, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will have completed 100 days. Himachal Pradesh President Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri, and the state's Congress chief Pratibha Singh marched with Rahul Gandhi. On December 16, singer Sunidhi Chauhan performed at a performance honoring the end of the 100-day protest at Jaipur's Albert Hall Museum. Speaking at a rally in Alwar, Rajasthan, on December 19, Rahul Gandhi emphasized the significance of English and stated that over 1,700 English-medium schools had been established in the state. He claimed that while BJP officials do not want English to be taught in schools, the children of BJP leaders attend English-medium schools.
Week 16 (20-26 December)
Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Alwar on December 20, 2022. The protest march entered Haryana the next day from Mundaka in Nuh district, and resumed from Patan Udaipuri in Nuh, Haryana, following a flag-handover ceremony. Kanimozhi, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP, joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra on December 23. She expressed her joy at being a part of the foot march celebrating India's diversity.
On December 24, the Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Delhi at Badarpur after resuming from the NHPC Chowk metro station. Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president Kamal Haasan, an actor-turned-politician, joined the march in New Delhi. During his address at Red Fort, Hassan emphasized that he joined the foot march as an Indian and that when it comes to the nation, all party boundaries must merge. Rahul Gandhi stated that he did not witness any hostility or violence while walking 2,800 kilometers (1,700 mi). At that moment, the protest march had traveled 3,122 kilometers (1,940 miles) from Gandhi Mandapam in Kanyakumari.
Week 17 (3-9 January 2023)
Bharat Jodo Yatra commenced its second leg from Hanuman Mandir at Kashmir gate on January 3, 2023, following a nine-day year-end respite. According to The Hindu, senior Congress leader Jaiprakash Agarwal claimed the rally was "echoing the voice of the public". Former Research and Analysis Wing head A. S. Dulat and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra when it reached Uttar Pradesh from Loni in Ghaziabad district. Ritu Shivpuri, a Bollywood actress, joined the march at Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, on January 5, 2023.
Week 18 (10-16 January 2023)
On January 10, 2023, the Bharat Jodo Yatra arrived in Punjab in Shambhu.
Before the yatra began in the state, Rahul Gandhi visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Santokh Singh Chaudhary, a Congress MP from Jalandhar, died during the march on 14 January after having a heart attack near Phillaur. On January 15, the late Punjabi singer's father, Sidhu Moose Wala, and historian Mridula Mukherjee joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Week 19 (17-23 January 2023)
Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Himachal Pradesh on January 18, 2023, and traveled 24 kilometers (15 miles) through the state. The protest march reached Jammu and Kashmir the following evening at Pathankot, with a flag-handover ceremony in Lakhanpur in Kathua district. Farooq Abdullah, National Conference President, and MP remarked that he attended the yatra to underline the need to promote the concept of unity in diversity and that Rahul Gandhi was "performing the task of linking people's hearts." Farooq Abdullah also linked Rahul Gandhi to Adi Shankaracharya, claiming that Shankaracharya was the first to do a digvijaya yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
Week 20 (January 24-30, 2023)
On January 24, 2023, Urmila Matondkar, an actor-politician, and eminent novelist Perumal Murugan joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra at Jammu's garrison town of Nagrota.
Reactions
Nationals
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned the rally, dubbing it the "Parivar Bachao Rally" (Save Family March). At the moment, Congress was ready to hold its presidential election. On September 18, BJP Tamil Nadu president C.T. Ravi tweeted a photo of Rahul Gandhi and his niece; Ravi withdrew the tweet following a public uproar, and a lawsuit was filed against him. The Congress responded by stating the BJP was "rattled" by the yatra and its massive public support.
• The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam sponsored the Yatra; M.K. Stalin was present to kick off the Yatra on September 7, 2022, at Kanyakumari. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) originally distanced itself from the yatra; its chairman P. C. Chacko remarked; "Cong's yatra wanted to establish it is not dead". [144] NCP head Sharad Pawar, on the other hand, called the yatra "very important" for Congress and Rahul Gandhi. When the Bharat Jodo Yatra arrived in Maharashtra, senior NCP leaders Jayant Patil, Supriya Sule, and Jitendra Awhad joined it.
• The Shiv Sena (UBT) (SS (UBT)) endorsed the yatra through its journal Saamana and accused the BJP of being afraid of the protest march. Sanjay Raut, the head of the SS (UBT), remarked that despite political disagreements, Rahul Gandhi maintains friendship and affection. Raut ascribed the march's overwhelming popularity to love and compassion.
• The Aam Aadmi Party rejected the yatra, stating it is of "no relevance". • In an early Twitter message, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) lambasted the Congress, saying, " "8 days in Kerala...2 days in Uttar Pradesh. Strange method of combating the BJP-RSS ". Kerala, according to the Congress, is a lengthy south-to-north state "It takes 370 kilometers from Kanyakumari to reach Karnataka via Kerala. It would take 18 days to traverse that distance if you took two days off." Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the CPI (M), stated: "Every political party has the legal right to connect with the public. Going to people is beneficial ". He also stated that the CPI (M) will join attempts to bring opposition parties together to protect the constitution.
• The People's Democratic Party endorsed the yatra, with party president Mehbooba Mufti accepting the Congress's offer to attend it (in Jammu & Kashmir) and complimented Rahul Gandhi for his "efforts to unify India".
• Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra and described it as a Dakshinayana movement of India, in which the influences of the south are carried to the north. • Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Hindu-nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, appealed to minorities in the country shortly after the yatra began. The INC saw this rapid outreach as a result of the yatra's success.
• Acharya Satyendra Das, the main priest of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, wished the Bharat Jodo Yatra well. Senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader and the Ram Temple trust's general secretary, Champat Rai acknowledged Rahul Gandhi and stated: "A 50-year-old 'young' guy is walking in this chilly weather to discover India. What else can we do except thank him for his efforts?"
International
In September 2022, Hollywood actor John Cusack expressed his support for Bharat Jodo Yatra and declared he stands in solidarity with "anti-fascists everywhere".
Controversies
The Bharat Jodo Yatra was chastised for not traveling through the poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Congress politician Jairam Ramesh justified the choice, arguing this was because it would take 90-95 days to reach Gujarat, starting from Kanyakumari; according to Ramesh, "It would be difficult to arrive before the elections, same with Himachal Pradesh". He further stated that in places where the yatra would be unable to travel, he and another senior Congress leader, Digvijaya Singh, along with many others, will pay visits.
Three Congress workers in Kollam requested a 2,000 gift from a street seller, who offered 500. Following that, the employees destroyed the vendor's weighing machine and veggies. The staffers were suspended from the Congress party immediately. K. Sudhakaran, the chairman of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, expressed remorse over the event, calling it "inappropriate" and "inexcusable."
Fake news
The Congress interrupted the yatra at Thrissur for a rest day on September 23, 2022, which was presumably the day the Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamist organization, issued a "bandh" call in Kerala in protest to NIA operations the day before. BJP spokesman Kapil Mishra linked the yatra's halt to the bandh and stated the Congress stood in solidarity with the PFI. Mishra's claims were contradicted by Congress, which stated that the hiatus was planned and had nothing to do with the PFI. In answer to a journalist's inquiry on the PFI raid, Rahul Gandhi stated that there should be no tolerance for any type of communalism.
On or around September 23, BJP leaders circulated a factually incorrect tweet in which they claimed that a girl who hugged Rahul Gandhi in a picture taken during the yatra had used the slogan "Pakistan Zindabad" at an anti-CAA rally led by AIMIM in Bengaluru; the contents of the tweet were found to be false. On September 25, the Indian National Congress filed a lawsuit against BJP politician Priti Gandhi for allegedly disseminating "false and divisive news" during the yatra.
On December 7, Congress Twitter accounts began spreading photographs of a throng gathered at Jai Gurudev Ashram in Mathura, claiming that they were shot during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Resistance
The Congress and the BJP clashed when welcome Bharat Jodo Yatra hoardings in Gundlupet, Karnataka, were pulled down on September 29, 2022. One poster depicted Savarkar. The problem was blamed on "miscreants," according to Congress. Savarkar's picture was earlier spotted on a Bharat Jodo Yatra poster in Kerala.
Protests
The Congress ran into a few issues during the Karnataka portion of the yatra. Following the introduction of Rahul Gandhi's picture on the Karnataka flag, pro-Kannada citizens protested and cautioned Congress not to use Gandhi's image on the flag.
Farmers demonstrated during the Rajasthan leg of the yatra, criticizing the state's Congress-led government's inability to fulfill Rahul Gandhi's election pledge of farm-loan forgiveness. They also grumbled about the paucity of water.
Petitions before the High Court Division Bench of the Kerala High Court denied a public-interest lawsuit seeking to manage the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which the petitioner said was hindering both vehicle and pedestrian traffic on public roadways.
Impact
Rahul Gandhi reopened a route that had been blocked due to caste-based violence in 1993 on the fourth day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. A road known as the "Bharat Jodo Road" connects Lingayat and Dalit villages in Badanavalu. According to authorities, Rajasthan's Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will officially unveil a 2.8-kilometer (1.7-mile) elevated road in Jaipur on October 7, 2022. The highway, which was formerly known as the Sodala elevated road, was renamed "Bharat Jodo Setu" by the chief minister, according to them.
Responses
On 11 October 2022, Karnataka's chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai, and BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa planned a countermarch called "Jana Sankalpa Yatra," which would visit 52 assembly constituencies in response to the Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra.
On December 1, the BJP began a march in Rajasthan named "Jan Aakrosh Yatra" in protest of the state's Ashok Gehlot government. The event garnered little popular support, and BJP officials expressed their discontent with the situation.
Despite receiving offers from the Congress party, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati and Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav did not participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Aftermath
According to a CVoter poll conducted in November 2022, Rahul Gandhi's popularity ratings increased significantly during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, however, they remained somewhat lower than in January 2019.
Many political observers believe that the yatra has resulted in a resurrected popular image of Gandhi, which had long been harmed by the BJP.
