The Congress party in Uttar Pradesh is launching a ‘U.P. Jodo Yatra’ from December 20, on the same lines as its earlier Bharat Jodo Yatra, in a bid to regain its lost ground and reach out to districts in the western part of the State which have sizeable Muslim electorates.
The Yatra will starting from Saharanpur on Wednesday, and end in Lucknow around the second week of January, having covered 11 districts and 15 parliamentary constituencies. The route is being seen as a major outreach towards the Muslim community as seven out of the 11 districts — Moradabad, Bareilly, Bijnor, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Amroha, and Rampur — have high Muslim populations. In fact, Muslims make up more than 35% of the population in each of these districts, which together account for ten parliamentary seats.
“It is true that majority of districts through which the Yatra will pass consists of large Muslim population, and on course of our Yatra, we will meet and hear their grievances as they are also equal citizens,” Anil Yadav, U.P. Congress general secretary told The Hindu.
Rahul Gandhi may participate
Over the course of the Yatra, party leaders will meet a range of citizens, irrespective of caste or religious divides. “The region through which the Yatra will pass is considered a region of farmers, artisans, and army men. We will hear them out and sensitise them about anti-farmer and anti-poor policies of the double engine BJP regime,” Mr. Yadav added.
Congress leaders did not reject the possibility of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi joining the State Yatra for a short period. All the top U.P. Congress leaders will actively participate in the Yatra.
In Moradabad, Muslims constitute about 47% of the population, as well as almost 51% in Rampur, 43% in Bijnor, 42% in Saharanpur, 41% in Muzaffarnagar and Amroha, and roughly 35% in Bareilly. The other districts on the Yatra’s route are Shahjahanpur, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Lucknow. In some of the selected districts, such as Bijnor, Saharanpur, and Muzaffarnagar, there are also a sizeable number of Dalits.
Preparing for LS poll
The yatra will spend two days in each district, spending four interactive sessions per day with different sections of society, and cover 20 kilometres a day on foot. The district in-charges appointed for the Yatra also indicate that the party is looking ahead to the 2024 parliamentary election, with many former MPs and prominent faces given responsibilities. Former Union Minister Pradeep Jain Aditya has been given charge in Saharanpur, former MLA Imran Masood in Bijnor, former MP Zafar Ali Naqvi in Shahjahanpur, and four-time MP Ravi Prakash Verma in Sitapur.
Political circles in the state are abuzz about the route, with observers claiming that the party’s only aim is Muslim outreach. “The route of the Yatra is self-explanatory regarding the motive of the Congress. It is aiming for an outreach towards Muslims, who used to vote for the party for a long time. Even in 2009, when it won 21 seats from U.P. in the parliamentary polls, Muslim support played a crucial role,” said Shashikant Pandey, a political scientist teaching at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow.
At a time when the Opposition’s Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is showing strains in U.P., with no clarity on seat-sharing between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, the Congress may also want to prepare for the Lok Sabha election by itself. “SP-Congress ties are not comfortable. We saw how negotiations failed in the Assembly polls for Madhya Pradesh. Hence, the Yatra is also aimed at energising the cadre to prepare on their own for 2024, irrespective of what happens in the INDIA alliance,” said Asad Rizvi, a political analyst based in Lucknow.
