Although former Congress president Rahul Gandhi spent only three days in Uttar Pradesh and covered only three districts in the western region during his ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', he was able to create a buzz in the Jatland and enthuse party workers besides triggering unease in the other opposition players in the state.
Rahul covered Baghpat, Shamli and Ghaziabad districts during his yatra and interacted with a cross-section of the people and also hinted at the possible issues that his party could take up during the next general elections in 2024.
Although the main opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party (SP) and BSP, kept away from the yatra, a few MLAs and a number of workers from Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which was an alliance partner of the SP and a Jat-dominated outfit, participated in the Yatra.
The members of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and Bheem Army, which wielded considerable influence over the Dalit community in several western UP districts also took part in the yatra in good numbers.
A large number of Muslims and members of the SC community also enthusiastically participated in the yatra and many prominent leaders of these communities were seen walking with Rahul for several kilometres.
In many places, the people showered flower petals on the Congress leader as he passed by their homes. Rahul also mingled with the crowd and shook hands with the people and interacted with them.
Keeping an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul spoke on unemployment, rising prices, farmers' problems and the Agniveer scheme. ''We will abolish this scheme (Agniveer) if we come to power in the next elections...the youths work very hard to get selected in the Army but this scheme will render them unemployed after four years,'' the Congress leader said while speaking to the youths in Baghpat. His remarks were greeted with loud cheers from the youths.
Rahul refrained from speaking on the alleged migration of the Hindu families from Kairana during his yatra and instead focussed on the problems faced by the farmers. ''People talk about my tee shirt...they don't see the torn clothes worn by the children of the farmers and labourers,'' he said.
Political analysts say that Rahul's yatra has created a buzz but it is yet to be seen if it will be able to give a new lease of life to the Congress, which has been reduced to a fringe player in UP.