The opposition can defeat the BJP only by uniting under the leadership of the Congress.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s 145-day-long Bharat Jodo Padyatra has come to an end with the unfurling of the tricolor flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar. The Bharat Jodo Padyatra, which started from Kanyakumari on 7th September, has passed through 12 states and 2 union territories. During the Padyatra, Rahul Gandhi has walked about 3970 kms. Rahul Gandhi, till now known as a failed leader in the politics of the country, has started appearing as a mature politician in a new avatar after his padyatra. During the padayatra, Rahul Gandhi interacted directly with the people and got acquainted with their problems. During the yatra, Rahul Gandhi made every effort to stay away from the VIP culture completely. A different form of Rahul Gandhi was seen in this padayatra which has been successful in attracting and influencing people.

The Congress party, which once ruled the country single-handedly, is currently passing through a very weak situation. After 2014, the Congress has not even been able to get the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Congress is out of power in most of the states of the country. The image of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also become very weak due to continuous election losses. He was being considered as a leader without mass base. Political observers were also beginning to believe that Rahul Gandhi did not have the ability to win elections. Under his leadership, the Congress could hardly again become the major political party of the country. In the midst of all these apprehensions, Rahul Gandhi took some such decisions, due to which his image has emerged as a determined strong leader.

Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post of National President of the Congress after the Congress party’s crushing defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At that time everyone had also put a lot of pressure on him to withdraw his resignation. But he remained firm on his decision. Ultimately, Sonia Gandhi had to become the interim president of the Congress. After about three years, elections were held for the post of National President in the Congress Party. During this also, all the big leaders of Congress had appealed to Rahul Gandhi to take over the post of Congress President. Which he rejected outright.

Even before the election of the national president of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi had announced to go on a padyatra, which Rahul Gandhi has shown to be complete. Rahul Gandhi, who started his Bharat Jodo Padyatra from Kanyakumari, has successfully completed his 4000 kilometer padyatra by walking tirelessly, non-stop and has given a message to the people of the country that he has the ability to lead even today. In the coming times, the Congress party will once again emerge strong.

Rahul Gandhi also made a meaningful effort to unite the opposition by inviting leaders of all opposition parties during his padyatra. Leaders of many opposition parties also participated in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Padayatra. Due to which a message was sent to the people of the country that without the Congress, the politics of the opposition will always remain incomplete. As long as the Congress is not at the center, there will be no opposition unity. It is not possible to defeat BJP without Congress. Even today, the mass base of Congress is intact in the whole country. Recently, Congress has formed its government in Himachal Pradesh by giving a crushing defeat to the ruling BJP. Which proves that the Congress still has the guts to fight with the BJP.

Inviting opposition leaders by Rahul Gandhi in his padyatra is indicative of the fact that Rahul Gandhi wants to do politics with a big heart. His intention is to take all opposition parties along. Leaders of many opposition parties like DMK, Left parties, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Maharashtra’s Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP participated in Rahul Gandhi’s padayatra. There has been talk of strengthening the opposition unity. Praising Rahul Gandhi, all the leaders of the opposition parties participating in this march expressed their commitment to strengthen the opposition alliance with him. It seems that in the coming times, the Congress will try to remove the BJP from power by forming a strong alliance.

Through this visit, Rahul Gandhi has dismissed all the questions that were being raised on him. Earlier it was said that Rahul Gandhi will not leave the post of President, he left the post of President. Then it was said that he himself would become the president but he did not. After this it was said that the election of the Speaker would be postponed but that too was not postponed. Through Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi has created an image of a strong and serious leader.

Through this visit, Rahul Gandhi has tried to present himself as a powerful alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Now people are taking Rahul Gandhi seriously. Apart from this, Rahul Gandhi has gone ahead even among the leaders of the opposition. Till now Mamta Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav all kept questioning the seriousness of Rahul Gandhi. Today all of them have started feeling that without them the unity of the opposition is not possible.

Every visit has some political purpose. Rahul’s journey is also not untouched by this. Especially considering that there are Lok Sabha elections next year. There are assembly elections in many states this year. It cannot be denied that Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has created a stir in the country. The party and workers have become active in the states through which this padyatra has passed. In a way, it can be said that the Congress party has got a new lease of life from this visit.

How successful Rahul Gandhi has been in the slogan of ‘Bharat Jodo’ will be known later. But during this period, the way Rahul Gandhi continuously surrounded the Prime Minister, he has benefited from it. First of all, he has become the undisputed leader of the Congress. Everyone in Congress has accepted the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.

The results of Rahul Gandhi’s pad yatra will start showing from this year itself. Assembly elections are due in nine states this year, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram. In these, Congress will have a challenge to save the government in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections also, Congress needs to strengthen its position. This will happen only if the Congress does better in the assembly elections of the nine states. The future of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party will be decided by the results of these nine states.

Ramesh Saraf Dhamora

(The author is a freelance journalist accredited by the Government of Rajasthan. His articles continue to be published in many newspapers of the country.)