Rahul's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra gets overwhelming response in Manipur

The Congress could draw some comfort from the saying all’s well that ends well after a roller-coaster Sunday (January 14).

The day dawned with bad news for the party. Even before its leader Rahul Gandhi could take off for Manipur to begin his east-to-west hybrid yatra, a senior leader, Milind Deora, jumped the ship.

Rahul with a posse of Congress leaders, including president Malikarjun Kharge was stranded in the fog-enveloped national capital, delaying his Manipur programme by over three hours.

Good turnout

If the weather and the desertion of a senior leader cast a gloom, it all disappeared the moment he and his team, including party chief ministers, touched down in Manipur’s capital city Imphal. Not only was the sun shining bright, but everything looked up for the beleaguered party.

The venue for the flag-off of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra at Khonjom, some 40 kilometres from Imphal, was jam-packed with an anticipative crowd.

The makeshift ground, near the historic Khongjom War Memorial, was now and then reverberating with the yatra’s theme slogans: Nyay ka haq milne tak (Until we get justice) and Saho mat daro mat (don’t endure, be fearless).

After much procrastination, the state government had given permission for the public rally at Khonjom in Thoubal district with a condition that the crowd number should not exceed 3,000. The set limit was surpassed by manifold.

“If the government wants to punish us for crossing the crowd limit, they can do it, but we were helpless,” Manipur Pradesh Congress working president Kh Devabrata Singh told The Federal.

Hoping for peace to return to Manipur

The overwhelming response manifested a yearning for peace in Manipur, which has been reeling under ethnic unrest for over eight months now. The state is desperately hoping for normalcy. For many in the crowd, the yatra that promises to seek justice for the sufferers is the proverbial straw of hope.

“We have been suffering a lot. But there was no one to hear our plight. It is good that Rahul ji is starting his yatra from the trouble-torn Manipur. Hope the message the yatra tries to convey will change the mind and restore peace and normalcy,” said Bimla Devi, vice president of the Meira Paibi’s Athokpam Apunba Lup unit.

The optimism was contagious. The people flanked the road to cheer Rahul as he rolled out the yatra from Khongjom to Sekmai in Imphal East district, a distance of 49 kilometres. It took more than an hour to traverse the first 10 kilometres due to crowd frenzy.

Yatra to enter Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi

On the second day, the former Congress president will resume his journey from Sekmai and will enter Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi. He will address a public meeting there before proceeding to Senapati, a Naga-majority district of Manipur for another public rally. By Monday evening he will reach Nagaland for a night halt.

On the way, he will be interacting with cross-sections of the society. He met a group of “social influencers” from Manipur on Sunday.

After interacting with the people, the Congress party will present a new vision of India to the people. “This vision will not be of violence or hatred, but the vision of harmony, equality and brotherhood,” Rahul asserted in his 12-minute speech.

Significantly for the Congress, state leaders of Manipur units of several like-minded parties, who are part of the INDIA alliance, shared the dais at the launch of the yatra amidst reports that seat-sharing talks of the grand old party with the allies were not progressing smoothly.

Those who attended the rally included left parties, JD(U), Shiv Sena and All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). The TMC, however, said it does not recognise its Manipur unit.

Harmro Party's support

The presence of Ajay Edward, president of Hamro Party of Gorkhaland, with a strong contingent of 40 members, was another good tidings for the Congress.

The party has emerged as a major force in West Bengal’s Darjeeling districts after it swept the civic body elections in the hills in 2022.

The Hamro Party’s support can give the Congress a shot in the arm in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. The party had last won the seat in 2004.

The Congress has been on the revival path in the Darjeeling hills ever since former chairman of the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Binay Tamang joined the party in November last year.

Now Edward’s presence in the rally would further bolster the party’s prospect in the Gorkha-dominated seat.

The young businessman-cum-politician had backed the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The challenge for the Congress would be to convert the overwhelming response to Rahul's yatra into electoral success.