Last Update: March 02, 2023, 17:12 IST
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses supporters during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, near Red Fort, in Delhi on December 24. (Image: PTI)
After the Northeast show, the question arises whether the yatra will eventually turn into a political advantage for the Congress and for how long can the yatra claim apolitical credentials
As a result of Nagaland, Tripura And Meghalaya and Congress did not make any appearances, the Grand Old Party’s first reaction was evasive and indicated damage control. Some leaders said, “Generally the trend is that the party which is in power at the Center wins these elections in the Northeast.” However, it completely erased the fact that for several decades of Left rule in Tripura, the party was never in power at the Centre.
The results are a bit surprising as the party busy with ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ paid little attention to campaigning in the three states. Rahul Gandhi He did only one rally in Meghalaya and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge did about six rallies. Apart from him, almost all the top leaders of the party were missing from the campaign and those who came like Shashi Tharoor did so in the end. In contrast, the BJP as usual was on the offensive but even the Trinamool Congress (TMC) – eager to make a showing in the Northeast – ran a strong campaign with several rounds of campaigning. Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee.
So, what has been gained from this disappointing show? With Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma switching sides and taking charge of the Northeast, the region opened wide for the BJP. Congress has let go of this area and TMC has emerged as a stronger opposition than Congress in these areas like Meghalaya. Once again, a new party has toppled the grand old party, as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did in Gujarat and Goa.
This brings us to two key points. One, as long as there is no clear opposition unity with the parties that have been arch enemies, this could be a clear path for the BJP. Now, for example, if Left, TMC and Congress had joined hands, then perhaps the result would have been better. However, the deep-rooted animosity between the Left and the TMC, and now the TMC and the Congress, makes such alliances impossible.
So will opposition parties now take inspiration from Kharge when he indicated that all should come together despite differences for the larger goal of keeping the BJP at bay? It sounds difficult. AAP’s reaction to the defeat of Congress shows how deep the enmity is. AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj tweets to remind Congress that in all states AAP has not yet contested, the grand old party has lost – a reference to Congress’s stand that AAP is BJP’s ‘B team’, Congress proceeded to delete it.
Second, for the Congress, the Northeast has been a story of neglect, reinforcing the fact that once it is wiped out from a region, it rarely comes back. Broken cadre and broken morale breaks the party. While the traction of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ cannot be summed up, the question arises – can the yatra eventually translate into political gains for the Congress? And for how long can the Yatra claim apolitical credentials?
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