After a pit stop in Delhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi embarked on the last leg of his 3700-kilometre Bharat Jodo Yatra, which will culminate in Srinagar. Gandhi attracted big crowds during his long journey and also got substantial coverage in the local and social media, but was largely neglected by commentators from mainstream media.
Now we find the narrative shifting rapidly. Suddenly, young Rahul is seen as a serious Prime Ministerial prospect that can take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This change in mood is having an impact on the ground. Take, for instance, the response of Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
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Initially, both of them had called Gandhi names and turned down his offer to join the yatra when it briefly traversed through Western Uttar Pradesh. In fact, Yadav reportedly called the Congress as being no different from BJP. The venom was quite uncharacteristic of an amiable Yadav, but he may have his own reasons.
Similar warmth was on display from the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana, Dushyant Chautala, who praised Rahul’s long and arduous journey and stated matter of factly that it was not easy what he was doing. This is a marked departure from the bare-knuckle hostility displayed by the BJP, which does not want to show any sympathy for his long walk to promote national unity. It fears that the support it has built around a constructed hatred for Gandhis and the Congress party would begin to diminish if BJP leadership shows humane values of appreciation for hard work and resilience. Expectedly they have latched on to a trivial detail of how Rahul is braving the extreme North Indian winter in just a T-shirt.
Those who are pinning their hopes around Rahul standing up as a challenger to Modi must recognise that nationalist politicians are harder to topple than the normal democratic ones. Their support base is built on the majority community and its flawed reading of history, which feeds their grievances against the privileged few (Gandhis, for instance). Usually, they are pretty unshakable in their conviction.
Lula sought to show that the corruption in the Workers Party was no different from what existed in Bolsonaro’s flock. In fact, one of the scoops that hurt the prospects of his Liberal Party was the manner in which Bolsonaro’s family bought 51 properties in hard cash - a practice normally seen in money launderers. Despite the rainbow coalition, Lula won by a whisker. It seemed that Bolsonaro had mastered the art of garnering the support of the masses in a manner that many journalists and pollsters could not read. That was the reason the nationalist leader did not accept the verdict.
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As BJP is seen to be the party of the majority community, every other party seeking the support of the minorities - like the Congress or SP - is seen as anti-Hindu. This is a difficult challenge to master, but state elections point to the fact that the BJP still does not get the votes of the entire Hindu community. Plenty of local factors determine voting behaviour, which is why Modi is trying to tell the voters that a candidate is not important and they should think that they are voting for him. While this pitch worked with Gujarat, in Himachal Pradesh, where he gave the first call that all votes were for him - the BJP lost badly.
The Congress and Rahul would draw comfort from Himachal Pradesh and all the states where the BJP lost in the past few years as it readies for the nine-state elections in 2023. A win in the majority of the states would tell us who will rule Delhi in 2024.
Sanjay Kapoor is a Senior Journalist based out of Delhi. He is a foreign policy specialist focused on India, its neighbourhood and West Asia. He is the Founder and Editor of Hardnews Magazine and he is also the General Secretary of Editors Guild of India.