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Bharat Jodo Yatra 2022: Congress’s BJY aims to provide alternative to BJP, its success will impact 2024

With the help of this Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra, the Congress will try to find answers to many serious questions within the party and outside the party.

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Bharat Jodo Yatra

By Mohammad Javed Rasheedi

Left in the margins, the Congress will try its hand at rejuvenation from September 7 with its Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY). The 150-day 3,500-km-long journey will start from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and culminate in Kashmir, passing through various states.

With the help of this Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra, the Congress will try to find answers to many serious questions within the party and outside the party.

The Yatra comes at a time when leaders like Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal have staked their claim to be the prime ministerial candidates against PM Narendra Modi leaving former Congress president Rahul Gandhi behind in the popular imagination. As such, the party itself is seeing dissidence flower with senior leaders like Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad going against its line.

Political experts see the Yatra as a statement from the Congress that it would not be cowed by pressure nor allow the CBI or the ED to undermine it.

The new Congress’ Yatra is taking place at a time when the party is churning about its new president. The election process for the party president will begin on August 21 and will end by September 20. In September, it will be decided who will be the Congress president. Some senior Congress leaders have been demanding a president outside the Gandhi family. Though Rahul Gandhi has said no to resuming the party mantle, a few leaders are trying to vest the leadership back upon him.

The former Congress president will lead the Bharat Jodo Yatra which indicates that even without being party chief, he will continue to play an important role to strengthen the party.

Some analysts do not consider it as a right move by the Congress, predicting that it would not give an opportunity to the new elected president to work freely. There will be two separate power centres in the party, which will make it difficult for the party to move in one direction. It has also been predicted that no miracle will be witnessed within the party even after changing the Congress president.

While others believe that this can be a better step to strengthen the Congress. The party president would be allowed to work as per his wish within the party while Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will take over responsibilities of addressing meetings and rallies across the country.

The BJP has been working on the same pattern. BJP president JP Nadda took over the charge of holding meetings and rallies across the country, while PM Modi and Amit Shah are working to strengthen the party in their own way.

Sonia Gandhi had adopted the same formula by keeping Manmohan Singh ahead during the UPA regime. If the party uses the same formula today, it could give good results.

With regard to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a question is being raised about how mutual cooperation will come about among opposition parties. If such an alliance is formed, who will lead it? Bharat Jodo Yatra seeks to answer all these questions.

The party has decided to keep Bharat Jodo Yatra open to all, despite being political. Other parties can also join this but the Congress has not clarified as to how many parties will support this yatra.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra is being organized at a time when many opposition leaders like Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee and KCR are trying to project themselves as contenders for the post of PM. But none of these have the capacity to even dream of carrying out this fight without the Congress. The Congress is well aware of its political importance, so it has started trying to strengthen its position at all India level.

The Congress knows it will be in a bargaining position only if it has a respectable number of seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Bharat Jodo Yatra can prove to be an attempt to give wings to these hopes.

It is difficult to imagine that the Narendra Modi-led BJP will stumble in 2024, but for some reason if such a situation arises, the Congress role will become very important. The party does not want to weaken its claim to that potential situation in any way.

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BJP says it stands for credibility of promises under PM Modi, Congress for crisis

Trivedi mockingly questioned whether Kharge was truthful in his statements made the previous day, implying that his critiques of the BJP were a reaction driven by pressure to reconcile his earlier remarks.

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The BJP said on Saturday that it stood for the credibility of promises made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, while labeling the Congress party as one suffering from a crisis of credibility, intensifying their ongoing rhetorical conflict over unfulfilled electoral pledges.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the ruling party has expanded its welfare initiatives, including health insurance, free food grains, and cash transfers to farmers, emphasising a strategy focused on wealth creation followed by equitable distribution as the Indian economy has grown over the last decade.

“We believe in the creation of wealth and its distribution. The Congress fosters corruption and depletes wealth,” he stated, referencing numerous unfulfilled promises made by Congress-led governments across various states.

Following Mallikarjun Kharge’s remark labeling “Modi ki guarantee” as a cruel joke after Modi seized Kharge’s guidance on budgetary constraints in state poll announcements, the BJP launched new accusations.

Trivedi mockingly questioned whether Kharge was truthful in his statements made the previous day, implying that his critiques of the BJP were a reaction driven by pressure to reconcile his earlier remarks.

Trivedi highlighted several accomplishments of the Modi government, including the construction of the Ram temple, the abrogation of Article 370, the building of over 14 crore homes for the impoverished, the establishment of more than 51 crore Jan Dhan accounts, and a firm stance against terrorism from Pakistan, to demonstrate the government’s fulfillment of its commitments.

He noted that Kharge, having witnessed notable leaders like PV Narasimha Rao and Pranab Mukherjee manage economic challenges effectively, is now observing the Congress party struggling under the influence of urban Naxals due to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing Kharge’s criticisms on various issues, Trivedi pointed to data from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) indicating a rise in account holders from 11 crore to 25 crore over the past decade.

He also referenced significant infrastructure projects, such as the construction of homes for the poor, 74 new airports, and an impressive pace of 37 kilometers of road built per day, claiming that these initiatives have created substantial employment opportunities.

“India is now ranked third in auto manufacturing and second in mobile phone manufacturing; if anyone is unable to recognize the country’s progress, there is a profound deficiency in their perspective,” asserted the BJP spokesperson.

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Maharashtra elections: Congress says Mahayuti understands its exit is certain

Congress leader Sachin Pilot, also an observer of the Congress party for the Maharashtra elections, said that the ruling Mahayuti alliance is aware that its exit is imminent.      

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The Congress on Wednesday asserted the ruling Mahayuti government in Maharashtra has understood that its exit is certain as the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance is strong and that all its candidates are in a strong position for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot, also an observer of the Congress party for the Maharashtra elections, said that the ruling Mahayuti alliance is aware that its exit is imminent.      

The Congress leader stated that the party is fully prepared and that its ally parties in Maharashtra are strong. He mentioned that the seat-sharing negotiations occurred in a positive atmosphere and that the ruling party has recognized that their exit is inevitable.

“All the candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are in a strong position. The people here have decided to support Congress and its allies in the upcoming Assembly elections,” he said.

He also noted that the alliance’s performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections was impressive. “Wherever Congress contested, our candidates won 80 percent of the seats. We expect this trend to continue,” he added.

Pilot acknowledged that there have been some differences among party members regarding specific seats but assured that those issues would be resolved in the next 2-3 days, ensuring there would be only one candidate from the MVA for each seat.

Earlier in the day, Ramesh Chennithala, Congress in charge of Maharashtra, slammed the BJP, claiming that the party is undermining its alliances in the state.

“The BJP is dismantling its alliances. They are forcefully converting alliance partner candidates into their own party candidates. The people will respond to this,” he stated while speaking to reporters.

Earlier on October 26, Chennithala alleged that crores of rupees have been reportedly offered to two of its MLAs to join Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction, ahead of state Assembly elections.

Chennithala made those allegations while speaking to reporters in the national capital. He also questioned the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Voting for all 288 constituencies for the Maharashtra Assembly elections are set for November 20 and counting on November 23. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.

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Rahul Gandhi not upset, Opposition spreading fake news: NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh

“Opposition parties are spreading false information. It is not true that Rahul Gandhi is upset with leaders in the State,” he said.

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Asserting that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not upset with the Maharashtra unit, NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Saturday accused the Mahayuti of spreading fake news over the issue of seat-sharing in the state.

Deshmukh mentioned that meetings between leaders of Congress in Maharashtra, including Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole, and Vijay Wadettiwar, and representatives of NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), went well.

“Rahul Gandhi is not upset. Leaders like Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole and Vijay Wadettiwar all had meetings with leaders of NCP-SCP and Shiv Sena (UBT). We had taken the decision regarding seat sharing based on merit,” the NCP(SP) leader said.

He further clarified that the decision on seat sharing was made based on merit, countering the false information being spread by Opposition parties. Deshmukh also dispelled the notion that Rahul Gandhi was upset with the state leaders.

“Opposition parties are spreading false information. It is not true that Rahul Gandhi is upset with leaders in the State,” he said.

Furthermore, in preparation for the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Congress released its second list of 23 candidates on Saturday.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has concluded talks on sharing seats in 255 constituencies, with each party planning to contest 85 Assembly constituencies, as informed by Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole.

On the same day, the BJP released a list of 40 star campaigners, including prominent party leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The other leaders from the saffron party — Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Assam Chief Minister Hemant Biswa Sarma, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Pramod Sawant were in the list.

The list also includes names of prominent leaders from the State — Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Vinod Tawde, Narayan Rane, Pankaja Munde, Chandrakant (Dada) Patil, Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Ashish Shelar, Udayan Raje Bhonsle, Raosaheb Danve Patil, Ashok Chavan, Sudhir Mugantiwar, Navneet Rana, among others.

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