BHARAT JODO YATRA: IS IT MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

THE COUNTRYWIDE WALKATHON GIVES RAHUL GANDHI AN IMAGE MAKEOVER, BUT THE CONGRESS NEEDS A TOTAL REVAMP TO REAP ITS POLITICAL DIVIDENDS 

- RAJ CHENGAPPA in Punjab & KAUSHIK DEKA

It's 6.30 am but still dark around the two-acre camp site for the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kala Bakra village, Jalandhar district. The villagers are yet to stir outside, but the brightly-lit camp, milling with 100-odd truck containers, is already a hive of activity. The party's Seva Dal organisation is gathered around to unfurl the national flag, following which they sing the national anthem and chant Vande Mataram. They then set out in small groups on the Jalandhar-Dasuya highway, led by Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha member. Half an hour later, as dawn breaks, a bearded Rahul Gandhi, clad in just a half-sleeved white T-shirt in the bitingly cold temperature of 2°C, and hiking pants with sneakers, sets out briskly on the same route with over 200 yatris in tow, many of them carrying the tricolour and Congress flags. A cavalcade of cars and trucks, organised by the local Congressmen, follow, waving banners and belting out Punjabi hits. Lining the sides of the road are giant cutouts of Rahul walking and posters of him wearing a saffron-coloured Sikh turban. Why, there is even a Bhangra performance to greet the yatris.

RAHUL'S OTHER YATRAS

April-July 2015: Three 'kisan padayatras' in Amravati (Maharashtra), Adilabad (Telangana) and Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh) districts to campaign for relief to farmers in distress

January 2016: Six-km walk in the drought-hit district of Mahoba in Bundelkhand