Bhopal. Nearly a year is left for the state assembly elections after the Bharat Jodo Yatra passed from Madhya Pradesh in the last week of November. Hence the state Congress leadership is all set to use the opportunity to launch its election campaign. Though the Bharat Jodi Yatra will cover just seven districts (about 66 Assembly seats), the state unit of the party plans to mark the presence of the Yatra in all 230 Assembly seats. The party has decided to start 17 Sahayak or Upa-yatras from different parts of the state, which at one point will merge with the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Burhanpur. These 17 assisted journeys will cover a total distance of 6,440 km in 35 days. The yatras from each district and block will proceed keeping in mind that all the 17 yatras will reach Burhanpur at the same time for merging into Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The yatras would proceed from one district to another, and the leading yatra would carry the ‘Constitution of India’, which would be handed over to the person leading the yatra in the other district. They will also carry soil from every village on the way and water from every small and big river on the way. According to senior Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh, the strategy of these by-yatras has been designed in such a way that it can have a huge impact in the assembly elections to be held in November-December 2023. A senior Congress leader said that Rahul Gandhi had addressed two election rallies ahead of the 2018 assembly elections, while the Bharat Jodo Yatra will cover over 60 assembly seats, during which he will interact with people. Congress leaders said that the main objective of Bharat Jodo Yatra is to unite people of all classes, castes, religions to protect the decades old democratic values for which people have sacrificed their lives. The way people are supporting Bharat Jodi Yatra, it shows that people are fed up with BJP rule.
People in Madhya Pradesh had given mandate to the Congress because they were fed up with the false promises of the BJP government. Chandraprabha Shekhar, a former minister and one of the key office bearers of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, said if the BJP conspired to gain power again against the Congress government in 2020, it was a disrespect to the mandate. People will answer in 2023 elections. The Congress unit in Madhya Pradesh claimed that the Bharat Jodo Yatra will make a big impact in the assembly elections in the state. As Shekhar explained, campaigns like ‘Ghar Ghar Chalo’ activated the party’s cadre at lower levels. It got positive results in the municipal elections. Shekhar said that making this yatra a mass movement has become the sole aim of every Congress worker. The Congress claimed that the results of the municipal elections were semi-finals and people have given a stern reply to the BJP, especially those who feel betrayed by the party. The Congress won five mayoral seats, including Gwalior and Morena, while two mayoral candidates lost the election by a margin of less than 500 votes. The ruling BJP, which had all 18 mayor posts, was confined to only nine municipal corporations.
Senior Congress spokesperson in Madhya Pradesh Jitendra Mishra said the party was already active under the leadership of former Chief Minister Kamal Nath and the results of two elections (assembly elections in 2018 and urban body elections in 2022) are a clear example. But, if it becomes a mass movement in the presence of the top leadership of the party, it will serve as an energy booster for the party’s cadre especially at the lower level. State BJP leaders, however, refuted the Congress’ claims, alleging that Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has become a platform for those who often speak against the country and raise Pakistan slogans in public rallies. A senior Madhya Pradesh BJP functionary said, “I don’t think there will be any impact of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, as they have seen the leadership of Rahul Gandhi in the past as well. They are changing their plan every day, which shows that they are still confused. (IANS)
