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Why is BJP worried about Bharat Jodi Yatra?

The Congress would also have no idea that its Bharat Jodo Yatra would get such a good response at the very beginning and the yatra would create a sense of anxiety and fear in the BJP. This yatra under Rahul’s command has really worried the BJP. There are many reasons for this concern. The first reason is that the BJP feels that this yatra can revive the Congress. Congress can revive. The Congress is completely battered by the breakdown in the party, along with the big defeat of two consecutive Lok Sabha elections and defeat in more than three dozen assembly elections. The BJP is feeling that in one more blow, the Congress can be thrown into such a deep pit from where its return will not be possible. If the Congress gets revived by the Bharat Jodo Yatra, then the purpose of the BJP will not be fulfilled.

It is also not difficult to understand why the BJP is finding the revival of the Congress possible. Everyone having knowledge of political history knows about it. There are two things to keep in mind in this. The first is that the Congress party has always been revived from South India and secondly that no political narrative or popular political discourse from North India has much influence on the politics of South India. The Narendra Modi phenomenon also did not make any impact in South India in the last two elections. Neither his model of development worked nor the model of Gujarat’s laboratory worked. BJP definitely won in Karnataka but it won because of BS Yediyurappa’s model. Yeddyurappa has been made a member of the BJP Parliamentary Board ahead of the next year’s elections and the party has, in a way, handed over the election to him. Not only Modi, the phenomenon of JP and VP Singh also had no effect in South India.

As far as the revival of Congress from South India is concerned, it has been proved in many elections. Congress was defeated in the entire country in the elections held after Jayaprakash Narayan ie JP’s movement and Emergency, but in South India it had registered a resounding victory. From Uttar Pradesh to Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, the Congress was cleared in the entire Hindi belt. It had a loss of 198 seats. Despite this, it got 154 seats. Almost all the seats in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were won by the Congress. He also did well in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Congress did well in the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat as well. Similarly, in the 1989 elections, in the Bofors scandal and the wave of VP Singh, the Congress was wiped out from the whole of North India, but in the four southern states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it registered a resounding victory. In 1991, the year Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, the Congress was wiped out in North India as well, but South India gave so many seats that the Congress government was formed at the Centre. Then in the 2004 and 2009 elections also, due to South India, the Congress government was formed at the center. That’s why the BJP is worried that if the Congress revives in the South, it will face a big challenge in the next elections.

Another cause for concern is Karnataka. There is a BJP government in Karnataka and elections are due in May next year. The condition of the party in the state is not very good that’s why BJP is giving so much preference to BS Yeddyurappa despite allegations of corruption and age of 79. On the contrary, Congress is preparing better there. Rahul’s journey will be in Karnataka for 21 days. If they change the narrative, energize the party workers and prepare the party to fight unitedly, then the BJP will find it difficult. He has to save his state government and then save the 25 won seats in the Lok Sabha. The third cause for concern is that if Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra receives a good response and generates interest in the Congress, it will be easier for the Congress to find allies before the next elections. It is the thumb rule of politics that if a party is visible on the ground, it does not face any problem in finding allies. If the yatra is successful, Congress will also get allies, ignoring Congress will stop and Congress will be able to coordinate on its own terms. This will also be an unpleasant situation for the BJP.

The fourth reason for the BJP’s concern is that this visit may change the image of Rahul Gandhi. The impression that has been made for them can be broken. Rahul Gandhi’s image of ‘Pappu’ has been created through continuous campaigning for the last eight-ten years. Amit Shah calls him Rahul Baba in his speeches. There is no leader of the country after independence, who has been ridiculed as much as Rahul Gandhi. Despite this, if Rahul Gandhi is determined to get out of politics after getting tired or humiliated, his spirit has not weakened and he continues to do politics, then surely he will not be rejected. Sooner or later his politics will be successful. This trip could be a chance to make his politics successful. The fifth reason for concern is that even though Rahul Gandhi’s journey is going on in South India right now and there is no effect on the BJP due to the revival of the Congress, but in the current era of social media, the message of the South does not take time to reach the North. . His ongoing visit to Kerala is being discussed in other parts of the country as well and this may create an atmosphere of Rahul and Congress there as well. Another reason is also related to political history and that is that such political trips have always been successful and the purpose for which the trips have taken place has been fulfilled.

So, these are the reasons, due to which the BJP has been worried about Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and in this concern BJP leaders are continuously targeting Rahul. In BJP recruited spokespersons and television speakers, committed anchors and journalists, freelance fighters of social media and veteran BJP leaders are all attacking Rahul. The issue of his T-shirt and shoes is being raised. It seems that the BJP which was making fun of him till now is now fighting him seriously. This in itself is a big victory.

Shubham Bangwal

Shubham Bangwal is a Senior Journalist at Youthistaan.com You can follow him on Twitter @sb_0fficial
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