Scores of larger-than-life cut-outs of Rahul Gandhi in different poses, including chewing sugarcane and striking a combat pose, have lined up the roads as the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the Jat-dominated western Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. The focus is on depicting Mr. Gandhi as a family man, with multiple images of the Congress leader with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and mother Sonia Gandhi. The posters speak of the Congress’s commitment to the Minimum Support Price (MSP), and how Mr. Gandhi carried the essence of Lord Shiva’s philosophy in his heart.
The yatra in western Uttar Pradesh also hinted at possibilities of new alliances, with the Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) local leadership mobilising numbers for the march. The flags of the Peace Party, and workers of the Bhim Army, could also be seen.
Addressing a well-attended meeting on a cold January evening in Baraut town of Baghpat district, Mr. Gandhi, in a brand new avatar, took on the BJP for generating fear and hatred among citizens. He also raised the issues of rising inflation and unemployment.
Mr. Gandhi appealed to the youth, farmers and workers to not fear, and said he had drawn this “don’t fear” attitude from the philosophy of Lord Shiva. “The BJP government believes in generating fear among youth, farmers and workers through its ill-conceived policies and then uses this fear to create an atmosphere of hate. We have to eliminate this hatred,” he said.
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The former Congress president said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would raise the issue of rising cost of gas cylinders and petrol while he was in the opposition during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule but he was now silent when the price of a gas cylinder had increased from ₹400 to ₹1,200. Highlighting the farmer and worker-friendly policies of the UPA government, Mr. Gandhi said the BJP government could waive the loans of its “corporate friends” but not of farmers.
The loudest applause came when Mr. Gandhi raised concerns over the Agniveer scheme for recruitment to the Armed Forces, which he said would force young Army recruits to return home in four years. “When the youth protested against the scheme, they were told that if they were photographed while protesting, they would not get government jobs,” he said.
Earlier, chastising a section of the media, Mr. Gandhi said that those who were concerned about him walking in a T-shirt should be worried about why “our farmers and workers don’t have proper clothing in winter”. “Children of poor farmers who walk along with me during the yatra don’t have proper winter clothing. Instead of asking why am I walking in a T-shirt, the right question is why the farmer and worker of this country could not afford a jacket or a sweater,” he said.
He claimed the media whose reins were in the hands of the government didn’t raise the real issues, and when the Congress tried to raise the concerns of the common man in Parliament, the mics were switched off. “It compelled us to take out this yatra to listen to the voice of the people and have a dialogue with them,” Mr. Gandhi said.
After RLD president Chaudhary Jayant Singh described those undertaking the yatra as ascetics, and directed party workers to welcome the yatra in the RLD’s stronghold, RLD workers turned up in large numbers and offered jaggery to the yatris as a symbol of welcome to the sugarcane belt. “Mr. Gandhi has come with a message of peace and nobody should shut the door for such a noble initiative,” Ajay Tomar, senior RLD leader, said, adding that this did not mean ceding political space to the Congress in the region.
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Salman Khurshid, in charge of the yatra in Uttar Pradesh, thanked the RLD chief for his “generous gesture” and said the yatra was not for “optics”. “We are doing it for substance and I am glad that the substance is falling into place,” Mr. Khurshid said. The political messaging, he said, was that the Congress was alive in U.P. On designing the schedule in U.P. in a way that did not create insecurity in the minds of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the RLD, Mr. Khurshid told The Hindu the yatra was not a contest for political space. “It is about getting everybody together. If not today, tomorrow, or the day after,” the former Union Cabinet Minister said.
Party spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh said that while the BJP was losing its allies, the yatra had indicated that like-minded Opposition parties are aligning with the Congress.
After an overnight stop-over in Baraut, the yatra will move towards Panipat in Haryana via the Shamli district, stopping at the communally sensitive towns of Kandhla and Kairana on Thursday.
Published - January 04, 2023 09:54 pm IST
