Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with party President Mallikarjun Kharge, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin and NCP chief Sharad Pawar during a rally at the conclusion of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, in Mumbai, Sunday, March 17, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The two back-to-back journeys stretching over 10,000-kms South to North and East to West - culminating over the weekend in Mumbai, reflects that Rahul Gandhi can take the Opposition unity ahead.
Whether these are Gandhians, anti-BJP parties, secularists, leftists, socialists or activists who are taking up diverse causes, they have joined Gandhi during the two yatras during 2022-24.
The last time the Congress lost three successive Lok Sabha polls was in 1996, 1998 and 1999 and since then, BJP-led NDA is on a strong footing and projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third term, Gandhi, the Wayanad MP, is banking high on allies across the country even though the I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc.
Gandhi’s one-time critics are backing him now.
At the Nyay Sankalp Padyatra and the grand I.N.D.I.A. rally at Shivaji Park, representatives of over two dozen political parties and groups were present and extended support to the 53-year-old Gandhi, who had been taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP-led NDA government for the past 10 years.
The Sunday event in Mumbai marked the culmination of 150-day 4,080-km-long Bharat Jodo Yatra, from 7 September, 2022-30 January, 2023 and 66-day 6,600-km-long Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, from 14 January-16 March, 2024.
The three meetings of I.N.D.I.A. conducted in Patna, Bengaluru and Mumbai were crucial as the number of allies soared from 14 to 28, however, it got a jolt when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar walked out to join the NDA-camp yet again.
There could not be any Congress alliance with TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee though she is part of the opposition unity.
Several leaders who praised and whole-heartedly supported Gandhi in Mumbai include former Maharashtra Chief Ministers - Sharad Pawar, the leader of NCP (SCP), Uddhav Thackeray, the head of Shiv Sena (UBT), Prithviraj Chavan and Sushilkumar Shinde, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM leader Champai Soren, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi founder Prakash Ambedkar, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj.
A day after the rally, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, "Rahul Gandhi is a prominent leader of the country. The country sees him as the next Prime Minister…. Rahul Gandhi is a good person and a leader. People like him. We all stand with him.”
Praising Gandhi, Stalin said, "We have entered politics to work for people. Not for entertainment. Brother Rahul Gandhi has visited states all over India to understand the heart of our India. It is a journey to restore India that was destroyed by the BJP. Election dates have been announced. Now our only goal is to defeat the BJP. There is no bigger threat than BJP to India."