Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul completes Karnataka leg with a finger on every pulse

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra completed its Karnataka leg on Sunday and entered Telangana through Shaktinagar, Raichur.

The march entered Karnataka on September 30 from Gundlupet in Kerala’s border district Chamarajanagar. Though Rahul did not say it all aloud, his march covered 511 km through the heartlands of Vokkaligas, Lingayats, Kurubas (backward class), Nayaks (scheduled tribe), and scheduled castes.

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The Vokkaliga, Kuruba, and Nayak heartlands include Chamarajanagar, Mandya, and Tumakuru, while the Lingayat, Nayak, and Kuruba regions cover Chitradurga, Bellary, and Raichur. Thus, this march made the leaders of these communities happy about strengthening their vote bases.

The mantra of collective leadership

Some Congress workers had complained about Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra not passing through the coastal and Malnad areas. BJP has a strong vote base in these areas due to the sharp communal divide.

Former minister Krishna Byregowda told The Federal that the march was planned in a straight line. Anyhow, MLA and former minister UT Khader believes that even though the march did not pass through the coastal districts, its impact of joining the minds of people would be felt in the coastal areas too.

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Most importantly, Rahul has succeeded in sending a message across to the party cadres that collective leadership is his political mantra. He made Karnataka Congress rivals, mass leader Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief DK Shivakumar, come to the same platform with him and sent a signal to both leaders that they had an equal position in the party.

Everyone’s happy

Also, he tried to identify the leaders of all sections of society, including Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Kurubas, SC/STs, minority leaders like MB Patil, Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Priyanka Kharge, Dr G Parameshwara, Satish Jarkiholi, UT Khader, Tanwir Sait, etc., and supported them for their work for the party. Also, he gave district-level and second-line leaders a pat on the back, making them happy as well.

At the same time, for Karnataka Congress leaders, everything is targeted at achieving power in 2023. Siddaramaiah’s birthday bash Davaanagere Siddaramotsava, Mekadatu yatra, and the Freedom March were all successful and helped the party gear up for the Assembly polls next year. The Bharat Jodo Yatra is a booster for the Congress’s efforts. It prompted Congress leaders to think of separate yatras in Kittur Karnataka, Kalyana Karnataka, and coastal regions around November.

Also read: Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul is walking into India’s hinterlands and hearts

Karnataka’s support to Bharat Jodo Yatra made Rahul happy. It gathered a lot of steam through the state and is indeed cause for alarm for the Opposition, BJP. At present, the Bharat Jodo Yatra seems to have given the Congress the upper hand in Karnataka, but BJP’s last-minute strategies cannot be underplayed.

Ear to the ground

The march helped Rahul understand the real issues of the people through the chain of discussions he had with leaders, party workers, and the general public from various sections of society. A senior leader remarked that Rahul was becoming a more serious politician day by day since he undertook the march.

Instead of giving speeches—barring the planned rallies and meetings—Rahul spent more time talking to common people. He gave scope to local issues—including SC-ST reservation, 371 J, the 40 per cent commission allegation, unemployment, price hike, etc.—to come to the forefront. It made people think seriously about him, said a local leader.

Rahul is said to have discussed with the leaders how to maintain the tempo and face the BJP’s strategic moves in the state and the country. “We do not know how this yatra will directly help electoral politics. But it has been helpful for party mobilisation and bringing unity among the leaders,” said KPCC Working President Satish Jarkiholi.

Also read: Rahul marches with ex-servicemen during Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka’s Raichur

AICC general-secretary and Karnataka in-charge, Randip Singh Surjewala, said the cadres of every Assembly constituency have been active. The frontal sections of the party have become creative. On average, five lakh people have marched with Rahul every day, he claimed.

He added that many district-level leaders had taken the chance to click pictures with Rahul, which they could never do earlier. That was a big energy-booster for party cadres, he said.