‘The Bharat Jodo Yatra Has Come a Long Way—in more ways than one’

On 7 September, when we began our march, there were many questions: Is it feasible to do 25 kilometres a day? Who would want to come along? Would people show up in solidarity? Today, 60 days into the Yatra, I’m happy to report that those questions have receded. Like we were taught in school, it’s not just your feet that take you along, it’s your heart, your courage that propels you forward. The success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra has exceeded all our expectations, and is bringing home to us the true import of this adage.

This is not to say it was all smooth-sailing. The past 60 days have been physically gruelling, but we’ve risen above it and are even surprised at how quickly the days have gone by. Along the way, I also picked up other things, by watching fellow Yatris—it’s been a sort of crash course in human behaviour.

There are two types of people in the Yatra: those directly associated with the (Congress) party and those who are not directly associated but have joined us. The people on their rooftops, in front of shops, at the entrance to a village, those making videos on their mobiles—their eyes and faces tell us how relevant the Yatra really is. We read in those faces the many challenges there are to overcome, and we read the signs of a new hope.

For instance, the women Yatris who joined us, not party workers mind you, spoke of inflation and the soaring cost of running a household. Young people spoke of dwindling jobs and a rise in job insecurity. Even those who are currently preparing to join the defence forces reiterated their concerns about unemployment. From across the many places that the Yatra visited, farmers cultivating cotton, soyabean or sugarcane, had various problems to report. Women's security, farmers' high input costs and low selling price of their produce, the right wages for labourers, employment for the youth, and inflation are all the issues we came across during the Yatra.

This is all especially meaningful, given the lack of reportage on the Yatra in mainstream media. We’ve completed its first stage and each of us feels quite at home, not to mention how well the country has imbibed the spirit of the Yatra. The lack of reportage has not impacted its effect; there is no use complaining about it anyway. Think of the times when we didn’t have mobile phones or social media to communicate with each other. We still found a way to spread our message and surprisingly, the same thing has happened with the Yatra. By now, everyone somehow seems to know about it.

This means that our internal communication is still alive—beyond WhatsApp forwards and what the television channels and newspapers will carry or not. At tea stalls, on buses and trains, on the farms and in the fields, in offices everywhere, in one form or another, some day or the other, in the morning or the evening, the discussion emerges that the Bharat Jodo Yatra is taking place.

Think of a young person who is preparing for some government job. His hope shatters when recruitment does not take place or the question paper is leaked. To rekindle hope among such youth is an objective of this Bharat Jodo Yatra. It is also its objective to give hope, strength and moral support to women when rapists are being released by government diktats, and their release is being celebrated by many. Through its many successes in highlighting these important issues, going forward, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will ensure that the government is held accountable for them.

That you are collecting taxes from all the people of this country and bailing out only your friends is not done. Raising the slogan of the nation, but filling the coffers of your friends doesn’t go. We want to draw attention to the large-scale changes that can ensue in employment by a change in this policy.

As far as inflation is concerned, if the government does not play its role and leaves everything to the market, then how will it work? If the government does not take responsibility for the public, then why should the public take responsibility for the government?

Another media friend asked if this Yatra will improve Rahul<ji>’s image. This question is incorrect. The Yatra has not ‘improved’ his image, it has shown people the real Rahul Gandhi—a sensitive, caring, intelligent leader who spontaneously and effortlessly connects with people. He puts everyone at ease, be it women or young men, children or the elderly, educated or the unlettered.

Crores have been spent to tarnish his image, but now, finally, people are getting to see the real person. And those sceptical questions about him have stopped.

(Based on Kanhaiya Kumar’s press interaction on 13 Nov 2022 in New Delhi)