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Millennia ago, as itihaas says, the prince of Ayodhya set out on foot, traversing the length and breadth of Bharatvarsha to wage war on behalf of righteousness. The Ramayana, the sacred travelogue of the adarshpurush unites India millennia afterwards. The Rediscovery of Bharat and the self-discovery of the traveller have become a current allegory for coadunation. The political walkathon underway in the name of unity by Rahul Gandhi, the Lone Ranger seeking to be the new myth maker, is giving itself an identity crisis. On Friday morning, a Congress Twitter post flummoxed the people of Haryana. “Ram, Ram Haryana. We are back again, “it said in vernacular. It also informed them that Rahul was passing through their state for the second time during his 3500-kilometre Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) covering 12 states and 250 Lok Sabha seats to climax in Srinagar after 150 days. Significantly, the Congress was invoking Ram’s name for the first time. Since BJY started from Kanyakumari in September 2022, the party’s poetic license has acquired pandemic proportions with slogans, sonnets and songs such as Mile Kadam, Jude Vatan, Berozagari Ka Jaal Todo, Bharat Jodo, NafratChhodo, Bharat Jodo etc gaining street credo. Patriotic songs by Lata Mangeshkar blared along for miles. The party’s hyperactive social media team gave lyrical liberty to posts and speeches. But Ram was a first; a cultural connect gambit for the new-Hindu. Coincidentally, Rahul’s Ram rhetoric appeared a day after Amit Shah announced in Agartala that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would be opened on January 1, 2024, barely three months before the Lok Sabha elections. The narrative for the next battle of ballots was set. Ram it through is the Congress doctrine de jour while Ram is the BJP’s formidable unifier. Despite all the syncretised sales pitch, BJY’s message is based on a simplistic and abstract concept. It supposedly targets the centralisation of power in one individual and prevents social and political polarisation. As Srinagar comes closer, Rahul’s journey raises questions about its efficacy.

Will BJY finally take him to Raisina Hill like Chandra Shekhar’s padyatra did?

The Congress projects Rahul as Modi’s liberal, secular and credible democratic alternative to Modi with the assumption that he has by acquiring a national footprint by mingling with his rainbow audience—the rich and famous, farmers and labourers, children and seniors. The Yatra sure has a destination, but its destiny is suspect when publicity hounds, has-beens and civil society sultans, B List stars, limelight-loving spies and financial finaglers jump (or walk) on the bandwagon. The Congress this time is rara Rahul with ritzy communication tools for electronic and social media. BJY is flagged off each time with patriotic songs. With rhapsodic spin and ideological construct, Congress slogan-smiths are daily electrifying Twitter and Facebook. RaGa’s confidence and approachability have disarmed journalists. His faultlessly sharp interactions during the past four months have surprised his worst critics. For the first time since his political baptism in 2004, he hasn’t made a single political or social faux pas to reaffirm the Pappu trope. But Rahul’s foot march is no match for the supersonic Modi. Modi is not just about unparalleled leadership. Modi is an idea, ideology and institution. Rahul will have to walk many more times to reach Modi’s talk. BJY is basically a Congress Jodo initiative to divert attention from Rahul’s discredited image after innumerable routs and is no alternative to Modi’s vision of Samridh and Viksit Bharat. Modi’s messaging technique is a heady cocktail of religious and cultural unity with economic and technological advancement. His promise is to deliver both Ram and Rupee. Rahul’s plan to unite India is a social and economic draft.

Will BJY lead to Opposition Unity before 2024?

Going by the response from anti-BJP parties, BJY will be a solitary reaper of the harvest of good intentions. Most opposition bigwigs have stayed away or deputed junior functionaries for photo-ops with Rahul. The Yatra’s master plan is designed to give prominence to Gandhi Jr exclusively. He walks in the middle of the road with chosen flag-waving volunteers mingling with security men. Reliable sources say that Rahul did not personally reach out to top leaders in the Opposition and regional parties to join him. Nor did he or Sonia invite members of over 40 state outfits to stroll with him—an ironical sideshow to a unity effort. Nitish Kumar sees BJY as a Congress programme. Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Omar Abdullah, Supriya Sule didn’t share lens space with Rahul. Many senior grassroots Congress leaders were conspicuous by their absence due to internecine spite in their states. Only Aaditya Thackeray turned up. In Kerala, the CPM initially mocked the Yatra as "seat jodo" campaign before praising him. Only M K Stalin joined in on the first day and openly praised the Walking Talking Congressman "Rahul’s speeches are creating tremors in the country. He is not speaking electoral politics or party politics but politics of ideology." However, the visible indifference of honchos like Mamata, Naidu, Pawar, Mayawati, and the Left signals Rahul’s dynastic isolation. They see him as stuck in a silo. BJY may give him enhanced visibility but is no guarantee for a status upgrade.

Will the BJY expand a shrinking Congress?

Wait for the nine assembly elections this year and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The Congress’s loss has been the BJP’s gain. Over 70 per cent of seats won by the BJP were earlier Congress bastions. BJY has touched over 200 seats, where it faces the BJP directly. The Congress hopes to win at least 50 to cross a century in the Lok Sabha. It must retain power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and reclaim Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, which were lost through massive defections. Though BJY is a hard sell with traditional Congress votes banks like Dalits, farmers, minorities etc., it has minimised internal dissent. By walking away from the memory of past failures, Rahul has bet on future success. But he is missing the charisma to convert sass into votes and seats. But the odyssey may create a cohesive organisational infrastructure with the moxie to give a better fight than its previous performances.   

The problem with BJY is that Rahul’s vision is without frisson. Previous famous Yatras by Vinoba Bhave, Chandra Shekhar, Sunil Dutt, L K Advani, Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan Reddy had clear political and cultural delivery. Narendra Modi’s pre-2014 Lok Sabha campaign leveraged unique tech and technique to clinch victory. He had a clear slogan, an alternative programme and the machinery to implement his agenda. India needs a viable and credible democratic substitute untainted by a personality cult and vague vocabulary. RaGa must walk many more miles before his dream destination and the nation become one.