Many in the Congress are discussing whether a second edition of Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unite India March), from east to west, should be be held before the 2024 general election.
With a growing demand from the rank and file within the Congress, all eyes are on the first meeting of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) that will be held over the weekend on September 16 and 17 in Hyderabad.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by former Congress President Rahul Gandhi began from Kanniyakumari on September 7 last year covering 4,000 km and went on for 136 days culminating in Srinagar on January 30.
There is a deafening buzz in Congress circles on the second Bharat Jodo Yatra with several dates doing the rounds. On August 8, Maharashtra Congress Chief Nana Patole told the reporters that the yatra would begin from Porbandar in Gujarat and end in Meghalaya. Sources said speculations that the yatra would begin from October 2 prompted many within the party to book their tickets for Porbandar.
However, as per sources, the party is now mulling on December 1 as a possible date to commence the yatra. “There is a conversation that we must begin from Assam and end in Gujarat. The second yatra would skip the 12 States the first one covered. And instead of a foot march, it will be in hybrid mode,” a mid-ranking Congress party leader said.
Mr. Gandhi has been maintaining that he is prepared for a second round if there is a decision to that effect. All his travels since the culmination of the yatra have been branded as Bharat Jodo Yatra, including his tours of strife-torn Manipur, Ladakh, or his visit to the wholesale vegetable market in Azadpur in Delhi.
However, unlike the first edition in which a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Digivijaya Singh, no such panel has been constituted yet. “There are several private conversations happening at various levels. There is a larger consensus that a yatra before the elections could help in creating a momentum in favour of the party. But so far, there is no official mechanism in place,” another source said.
There is also a contrary view within certain sections that the yatra would take attention away from election preparations. This view, according to the sources, is also shared by the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who isn’t completely convinced that conducting the yatra so close to the general election, and with five State Assembly elections lined up, will be a good idea.
