Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra evokes mixed response, stirs a row in Kerala leg

Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra, which entered the second day of its Kerala leg on Monday (September 12), has evoked mixed responses in the southern state.

While a section of political commentators and activists have welcomed the march, expressing hope that it would help unite people against the polarising politics of the BJP, the ruling CPI(M) and leftists in the state have remained unimpressed.

The Congress has said that the core purpose of the yatra is to eliminate hatred from the country and extend the message of peace and brotherhood.

First day, first controversy

However, the party encountered a major embarrassment on the first day of the yatra’s Kerala leg. State leaders of the party including Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor were left red-faced when Rahul Gandhi skipped the inauguration of the freedom fighter’s memorial in NIMS Hospital at Nayyattinkara, which fell on his rally’s route. A video footage showing Tharoor, KPCC President K Sudhakaran and others waiting at the venue while Rahul passes by without any inkling that he is supposed to attend it, gave enough fodder to political opponents to laugh at. In the video, Tharoor seems visibly disturbed over the unexpected turn of events.

Later, Sudhakaran apologised to Congress workers and the family members of the freedom fighters for Rahul’s inability to attend the event. Later, the Opposition leader told the media that the Congress leader couldn’t attend the event due to a communication error.

‘Why no BJP state on road map?’

Political opponents have also questioned the Congress’ decision to take its rally through non-BJP states, while spending little or no time in BJP-ruled states.

Congress leaders led by Rahul will cover 3,570 km across 12 states and two Union territories in a span of 150 days. They will spend 19 days in Kerala before crossing the border at Wayanadu to enter Karnataka on September 30. After 21 days in Karnataka, the yatra would enter Andhra Pradesh.

Many have asked why 18 days have been devoted to Kerala and only 48 hours to BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. Gujarat does not even fall in the yatra’s roadmap.

In its defence, the Congress leadership in Kerala has said that as it is a padyatra (foot march), convenience and security of the participants were given prominence while charting the route.

“This is based on practical reasons” explained VT Balram, former MLA and one of the coordinators of the yatra in Kerala.

“You cannot take a smaller route from Kerala to Karnataka as it is a journey on foot. We have to consider many factors including safety, security and convenience while preparing the route for the journey. Rahul Gandhi covers an average of 25km a day. Hence the scope of taking too many deviations from the main route is impossible,” Balram told The Federal.

“From Karnataka too, one has to spend a minimum of two weeks or more to cross the border to reach Andhra,” he added.

He also dismissed allegations that the Congress has chosen states where it has a strong foundation and ignored BJP-run states.

“It is not true. We avoided Chhattisgarh despite it being a state ruled by the Congress. This was done due to security reasons as Chhattisgarh is a state with the threat of Maoists,” he said.

Containers, the bone of contention

The use of ‘swanky’ containers to rest for Rahul and his colleagues during the journey, has triggered a raging debate in the state.

“Containers are generally used for transporting goods. If someone has the misconception that Congress is setting a model of ‘simple living’ by using containers in the yatra, they are wrong. The expense to maintain such containers, which have five-star facilities, is huge. Staying in hotels would have been cheaper,” M Swaraj, former MLA and CPI(M) secretariat member said in a weekly video programme posted on the party’s Facebook page.

Mass outreach

Sources say, during the yatra, Rahul interacted with representatives of fishermen communities, protesting against the Adani-owned international port at Vizhinjam.

Sridhar Radhakrishnan, an environmental activist and former director of ‘Thanal Trust’ who walked with Rahul from Parassala to Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, said that the duo discussed the state of the farmers in Kerala, the K-Rail project and the protest against the Vizhinjam port by fishermen.

V T Balram, vice-president of Kerala VCC told The Federal that while Rahul is not expected to visit the protesters, those protesting against the Vizhinjam Port and K-Rail project can meet during the march.

Political analysts say the Congress through such conversations aims to gather momentum against the ruling LDF and rejuvenate its own prospects.