Civil society groups plan eight-month campaign to promote Constitutional values

The Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan (BJA), an umbrella body of civil society platforms, on Wednesday announced it is launching an eight-month 'Jana Gana Mana Abhiyaan' to promote Constitutional values.

In a statement, the BJA, which had backed the INDIA bloc in the recent Lok Sabha polls, said the campaign will start on 15 August — Independence Day — and conclude on Ambedkar Jayanti on 14 April next year. During this period, the BJA also aims to train 1.25 lakh volunteers, according to the statement.

The Jana Gana Mana Abhiyaan aims to "promote constitutional values, protect democratic institutions and strengthen non-violent political, ideological and cultural resistance so as to defend the Republic," it said.

"Through a series of activities including commemorations, protests and public engagements, this campaign aims to cover 400 Lok Sabha constituencies, our version of '400 paar'," the BJA said. The BJP-led NDA had used the slogan 'abki baar 400 paar' for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Founded in February last year, the BJA had supported the INDIA bloc, of which the Congress is also a member, in 156 "target parliamentary constituencies" by mobilising volunteers and voters, the statement said.

"The Lok Sabha elections of 2024 have been a moral and political defeat for the BJP-RSS regime and a personal defeat for the prime minister (Narendra Modi). But they lack the humility and wisdom to learn from the mandate. They have instead chosen to double down on attacks on minorities and activists, continued with bulldozer (in)justice while carrying on with brazen cronyism," the BJA said in the statement.

"The lifting of restrictions on government servants' participation in activities of the RSS has accelerated open infiltration of public institutions," it said.

"To continually challenge and eventually reverse authoritarianism and majoritarianism, there is a deep and urgent necessity of creating a coalition-for-justice of the bottom of the social pyramid, whose rights and needs are under an unprecedented assault by the BJP-RSS dispensation. Hence, the Jana Gana Mana Abhiyaan (JaGaMA)," the BJA said.

The organisation said it will campaign in Assembly poll-bound Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi to mobilise voters in favour of parties "which believe in constitutional values and democratic institutions".

"In states where elections are more than a year away, the BJA will work with people's organisations and movements to identify people's issues, hold the governments to account, persuade parties to put people's demands in their manifestos, build wholesome narratives and establish a wide volunteer base and media presence," the BJA said.

"Following the experience of supporting democratic forces in the Karnataka and Telangana state elections, and the INDIA bloc in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, especially in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the BJA feels confident that citizens and citizens' organisations can make a difference to electoral outcomes," it said.

The JaGaMA will comprises of nine phases. The first phase from 15 to 30 August will have azadi (freedom) as the theme while the next 15 days, 1 - 30 September will have the theme of buniyaad (roots), the statement said.

The themes for the other phases are rachna aur sangharsh (creation and struggle, 1-12 October), samwaad (communication, 21 October-10 November), bandhutva (camaraderie, 11-26 November), vistaar (expansion, 27 November- 2 January), ganatantra (republic, 3-30 January), Bharat jodo (6 February- 22 March) and nyaya (justice, 23 March-14 April).

The statement said JaGaMA will also develop a nationwide communication network to amplify "the Constitutional vision and challenge the fake narrative of RSS and BJP".