Brand value in mind, Congress renames 6,700-km Bharat Nyay Yatra as Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra

In a strategic move months before the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has decided to rebrand its upcoming Bharat Nyay Yatra, scheduled to begin from 14 January, renaming it the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

The decision was announced by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday, who emphasised the established brand value of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the public perception.

“At the meeting of all general secretaries, in-charges, PCC chiefs and CLP leaders, it was felt that the Bharat Jodo Yatra has become a brand that is embedded in the minds of people. We should not lose it,” Ramesh said, referring to the 4,080 km march headed by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, which began from Kanyakumari in September 2022 and ended in Srinagar in January 2023.

“Based on the discussions today, we finalised routes. We always had Arunachal Pradesh in mind, and therefore, the BJNY will cover 15 states including Arunachal,” Ramesh added.

The march, covering a substantial distance of 6,700 kilometers over 66 days, will kick off from Imphal, the capital of violence-affected Manipur. The yatra will be in Uttar Pradesh for 11 days, covering a distance of 1,000 km in a state where the party has a single Lok Sabha MP for now.

Rahul Gandhi is slated to address twice-daily gatherings during the course of the yatra, the Congress said. The initial plan was to journey from Arunachal's Pasighat to Porbandar in Gujarat, but the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur since 3 May has prompted a change in the route.

Ramesh revealed that the yatra would traverse 15 states, including Arunachal Pradesh, with particular focus on covering 1,000 km in Uttar Pradesh and 523 km in West Bengal across seven districts in five days.

The revised route aims to connect with a broader audience, and Ramesh indicated that all India parties and civil society organisations would be invited to participate. “All INDIA parties and civil society organisations will be invited,” he said, adding that the march would cover 110 districts in all.

The party meeting was the first involving newly-appointed party officials after Kharge carried out a reshuffle in December 2023. Ahead of the meeting, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said two meetings of the internal Congress committee had been held to deliberate on seat sharing with other parties.

The Congress leadership has held separate meetings with state leaders and discussed the poll preparedness in their respective states in the past few months.