Revisiting Chandra Shekhar’s Bharat Yatra as Rahul embarks on new one

Rahul Gandhi’s 3,570-km ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Kanyakumari to Srinagar aimed at “uniting Indians against hatred and creating social harmony in the society”, culminated in January 2023. This ambitious foot march of Rahul Gandhi, an unprecedented political exercise, made some difference to the Congress in reviving its political fortunes and in many ways invigorated the party to a large extent.

To ensure justice for the people of north-eastern parts of the country, who have been ignored by successive political dispensations in the past seven decades, Rahul Gandhi, has now embarked on a 6,713-km ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ from strife-torn Manipur to Mumbai, starting on January 14, a year after completion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. This Yatra will pass through 110 districts in 15 states covering 100 Lok Sabha seats and 337 assembly segments.

These two yatras of Rahul Gandhi remind the 80s generation of a Bharat Yatra ‘experiment’ of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar. Four decades ago, Chandra Shekhar embarked on his journey by foot from Kanyakumari to Delhi’s Rajghat covering 4260 km. “At that political juncture, Chandra Shekhar’s Yatra was aimed at understanding the difficulties and sufferings of the countrymen personally at their doorstep. Bharat Yatra in a way paved the way for him to become the prime minister, despite a small number of MPs supporting him. Bharat Yatra enabled Chandra Shekhar to save the country during difficult times,” observes YSV Datta, former MLA, and an active member of the Janata Parivar.

Pictorial volume 

‘Chandra Shekhar-Bharat Yatra –A bird’s eye view of a new vision for India’ - a coffee-table book by renowned photographer and a senior leader of Janata Parivar, Sridhar Tumari, chronicles the historic Bharat Yatra of the former prime minister through black and white pictures which he captured with his ‘asahi pantax’ camera.

Pictures in this volume capture the spirit of ‘Yatra’. Significantly, this coffee-table book coincides with the 40th year of Chandra Shekhar’s Yatra, which commenced on January 6, 1983, and ended on June 25, 1983. Chandra Shekhar’s Bharat Yatra – a black and white pictorial volume, depicts his ‘padayatra’, which according to Sridhar Tumari is “very much similar” to an ‘ashram on wheels’. “Chandra Shekhar’s determination to meet poor people of India at their doorsteps is an exceptional message to every present-day politician in the country.”

Speaking to The Federal, Sridhar said, “Photographs in this volume on Chandra Shekhar – Bharat Yatra, have been arranged in such a way, that it will depict dawn to dusk events of ‘padyatra’. “Pictures are being assembled in a sequence, starting with the traditional welcome of tall, bearded Chandra Shekhar, a public announcement system, which signals his arrival to a particular village, followed by a public meeting, long march, breaks and refreshments, along with the end of the day’s sequences.”

“It is an attempt to record all the happenings of a single day to acquaint viewers about the objective and nature of Yatra through the photographs of a day’s routine. I restricted myself to the relevance of the holistic daily routine of padayatra in this volume” Sridhar explains.

Relevance in Karnataka

This pictorial volume is more relevant to Karnataka, because, Chandra Shekhar decided to embark on this Yatra while the elections to the Karnataka assembly were approaching. By the time he completed the ‘padayatra’ in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and stepped into Karnataka, the Janata Party was in power.

“Chandra Shekhar’s entry into Karnataka was a historic moment. Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde was on the road like a common man to welcome him, and escort him to the dais with great fervour and respect. One cannot forget the way Hegde translated the speech of Chandrashekar into Kannada. What I attempted is to depict events of the Yatra in Karnataka. This is an honest bid to offer an opportunity for the present and future generation to view epic Yatra through photographs as a historical document,” said Sridhar.

Reaching out to people

“What is Bharat Yatra for Chandra Shekhar?” The former prime minister used to pose this question to himself and answer that with great clarity. “This Yatra is not aimed at self-purification. Likewise, this Yatra is neither an escape from today’s politics nor born out of anger. It is not aimed at deriving instant political dividends. The purpose of this Yatra is to meet people, who have free time but don’t have the influence or monetary facilities to inform what they can do about the experiences or how they can resolve their problems. I wish to walk with them and listen to them,” said Chandra Shekhar in his note, “Chandra Shekhar’s insights”, published in this volume.

Describing the volume as a unique effort by a sensitive and creative photographer Sudhindra Bhadoria, Chairman and Founder Trustee of Bharat Yatra Trust observes, “Values and principles of our society along with the nation have gone through sea change. The painstaking struggle of Chandra Shekhar during his ‘padayatra’ is unthinkable for the present generation. Sridhar has documented the photographs of this ‘padayatra’ with passion and commitment”.

Bottom to top approach

Bhadoria, the planner and initiator of the Yatra, describes Chandra Shekhar as a true socialist, who understood the value of human connection.

Speaking to The Federal, Bhadoria said, “Chandra Shekhar knew that the genuine way of knowing the pains and problems of people was to interact and engage with them at the grass-root level. He had understood that there is no replacement for physical effort and contact. Therefore, he set out on the ‘padayatra’ in order to understand his countrymen and their problems to change the system in favour of the poor, disadvantaged and marginalised. He also felt that the experiment of going to the masses to understand reality from bottom to top is the right approach in social life. It was Bharat Yatra which gave him the true meaning and purpose of life.”

Preparation for Bharat Yatra

On the idea of ‘padayatra’, Bhadoria said he met people from various regions and sought their opinion in the first phase. He prepared a complete note and presented that to Chandra Shekhar. “He was convinced of the purpose of the Yatra and decided to launch it. Besides offering consent, Chandra Shekhar fixed the date and asked me to proceed with organising the logistics and managing the entire padayatra efficiently.”

“Chandra Shekhar’s most unforgettable image was an old woman standing outside her hut with a lantern to guide the ‘padayatra’, while they were passing through a thick forest. At each stopover, he would address the crowd and underline the five most fundamental issues such as drinking water, nutritious food, primary education, dignity for SC/ST population and communal harmony,” recalls Bhadoria.

Rousing reception in Karnataka

His Yatra received a rousing welcome in Karnataka, even from Congress leaders. Party leader Shamanna greeted Chandra Shekhar at Anekal and extended warm hospitality.

At Chitradurga, veteran freedom fighter and former chief minister S Nijalingappa welcomed the Yatra. The impact of ‘padayatra’ was clearly reflected in the governance of Janata Party rule in Karnataka. They took up issues of drinking water on a priority basis and also implemented the decentralisation of power through the revolutionary Panchayat Raj Bill. When the Yatra reached Gandhi Samadhi, a sea of humanity welcomed Chandra Shekhar.

According to Harivansh and Ravidutt Bajpai, authors of “The Last Icon of Ideological Politics”, it was for the first time since Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March that a prominent leader was walking on foot among the common people to gather first-hand knowledge of their problems and understand their perspective.

Take on Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra

On Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra, Bhadoria said, “I don’t want to make a note on anybody’s Yatra for that matter. But there is a sea of difference between the Bharat Yatra of Chandra Shekhar’s Bharat Yatra and Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. We had only one van, in which, the belongings of Yatris were kept. Chandra Shekhar’s Yatra was not a political foot march. He lost the Lok Sabha polls when he embarked on the Yatra. Every Yatri was expected to depend on the generosity of the local villagers to survive on the food and facilities available. But, the situation has changed now. I won’t say Rahul’s Yatra will not have any impact. However, I don’t know whether it will pay political dividends in the coming polls, as Chandra Shekhar’s Yatra did not have any effect on the poll outcome. The situation may be the same now.” 

Manipur govt's nod for Rahul’s Yatra

At the time of writing this piece, the BJP-led Manipur government granted conditional approval for Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra after eight days of uncertainty. However, the consent comes with restrictions, permitting only the Yatra’s “flagging off” with a limited number of participants at a public ground in Imphal East district.