The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary– Sep 9, 2022; Day 353

Discovery of Congress: On Bharat Jodo Yatra

The Bharat Jodo Yatra should live up to its mission and not be about Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, literally a ‘unite India march’, is an ambitious political project that will test his acceptance as a leader and the mood of the country. Kicked off (Commence officially) on Wednesday in Kanniyakumari at the tip of the Indian peninsula (A large mass of land projecting into a body of water), the march will cover 3,500 km in close to five months across 12 States and two Union Territories to reach Kashmir. Mr. Gandhi said the march was an effort to unite all Indians behind the values of the national flag, the core of which is diversity. The Congress leader said those values were now under threat from Hindutva, the ideology of the current regime. Mr. Gandhi, a strident (Conspicuously and offensively loud;) and consistent critic of Hindutva, and a votary (One bound by vows to a religion or life of worship or service) of diversity, federalism (The idea of a federal organization of more or less self-governing units) and liberalism (A political orientation that favours social progress by reform and by changing laws rather than by revolution), has not been able to mobilise sufficient public support behind his thinking so far to revive the Congress. Meanwhile, Hindutva remains popular enough to win power in Delhi, though its geographical spread is still patchy (Irregular). Mr. Gandhi has faced criticism of being a sporadic (Recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances) political actor with limited capacity for sustained action. By venturing into such a long and challenging enterprise, he is possibly testing his own endurance (The power to withstand hardship or stress). Such political journeys have historically and in the recent past rewritten the fortunes of leaders and ideas — from M.K. Gandhi to L.K. Advani. Mr. Gandhi will therefore be closely followed every step of the way by his admirers, critics and, more importantly, open-minded sceptics.

What matters for Mr. Gandhi will be what the undecided section of Indian population makes of his yatra. The Congress had announced this yatra at a brainstorming session in Udaipur in May. This yatra would be more productive in conjunction (The temporal property of two things happening at the same time) with the other measures announced in Udaipur to revamp (To patch up or renovate; repair or restore) the party. Of particular distaste for the neutral people of India is the continuing trend of dynasties capturing positions of power at the cost of the ordinary, talented workers in the Congress. The Udaipur conclave had resolved to check the level of dynastic inheritance of power in the party, but that has remained on paper. Mr. Gandhi is acutely aware of the toxic (Unpleasant and damaging or offensive) legacy that shackles (Restrain with fetters) the party. In response, he has swung between a self-effacing (not claiming attention for oneself; retiring and modest) approach and the promotion of his own coterie (An exclusive circle of people with a common purpose) in place of the previous. Mr. Gandhi will have to discover, inspire, and incentivise the Congress worker through this journey. The notion (An odd, fanciful or capricious idea) that NGOs and actors outside the Congress structure will give buoyancy (Irrepressible liveliness and good spirit) to his politics is wrong and misplaced. Mr. Gandhi will have to convince the general public of his capacity to lead a national change and also motivate the party’s workers who have long been trampled (Injure by trampling or as if by trampling) by one group of rootless imposters (a person who pretends to be somebody else in order to trick other people) after another. That is a long, and even lonely, journey.

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