The Manipur to Mumbai Bharat Nyay Yatra that former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will lead, will not only cover 6,200 km, but pass through 14 States that send as many as 355 members to the Lok Sabha.
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Starting in strife-torn Manipur in the east, the yatra will be mostly covered on a customised rath-like bus with about five to seven padayatras every day, and end in Mumbai in the west. The 65-day yatra will be flagged off by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge from Imphal on January 14 and end on March 20 in Mumbai.
Though the exact route and itinerary is yet to be finalised and will be made public only on January 8, the yatra could focus on the crucial Hindi heartland State of Uttar Pradesh, where the yatris may spend close to a week and travel extensively.
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The Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) had barely covered U.P. for three days. But now, with the BJP expected to build a strong political narrative after the January 22 consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, the Bharat Nyay Yatra is expected to spend more time in the State and seek to counter the ruling party on the plank of social justice, such as demanding caste census and promising greater rights to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) proportionate to their numbers in society.
The party’s OBC outreach, however, has to take into account its plans to reach out to the tribal community, that is said to have voted substantially in favour of the BJP in the recent Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Many have argued that the emphasis on OBCs may have been one of the factors for the tribal vote to gravitate towards the BJP. All these three States are now being covered by the Congress’ yatra politics. So, as the yatra passes through Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the party will seek to balance the narrative.
The second edition of yatra politics will also cover West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Gujarat, that were not covered by the BJY. The Congress leadership had been sharply criticised for not covering Gujarat in BJY especially when Assembly election was due in the State when the yatra was on.
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The yatra also covers States where the party is part of an alliance and may choose to portray a picture of Opposition unity to take on the BJP. However, that is likely to depend on how smoothly the parties can work out the seat-sharing arrangements.
The Congress is part of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar with Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). It has a tie-up with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and RJD in Jharkhand and is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with National Congress Party and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) in Maharashtra.
“The State units will always have concerns but the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance [INDIA] is a national alliance and national factors take precedence over State concerns,” a senior Congress leader said.