NEW DELHI: For 16 days, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ carved a loud path via Bihar’s dusty highways and crowded colonies. Greater than a marketing campaign, it was once pitched as a “ethical” campaign: a struggle to “give protection to the vote” of thousands and thousands allegedly struck off the rolls. The march had political theatrics, constitutional sermons, and opposition display of drive – including to each hope and controversy.
25 districts, 110 seats, 1300 km
Over 1,300 km, throughout 25 of 38 districts and 110 meeting constituencies, Rahul Gandhi walked, rode motorcycles, and waved his approach via Bihar’s politically charged panorama. From Sasaram to Patna, the yatra drew huge crowds, with slogans like ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhor’ echoing right through.
INDIA bloc allies joined at other phases, turning the yatra right into a a portrait of opposition team spirit.Leaders who joinedthe yatra:
Congress : Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge, Revanth Reddy, Ashok Gehlot, KC Venugopal, Siddaramaiah- RJD: Tejashwi yadav, lalu prasad yadav
- Samajwadi Birthday party: Akhilesh Yadav
- DMK: Mk stalin and kanimozhi
- Jmm: Hemant Soren
- Trinamool Congress: Yusuf Pathan and Lalitesh tripathi
- NCP (SP): Supriya Sule and Jitendra Awhad
- Shiv Sena (UBT): Sanjay Raut
- Left Events: Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-Ml), D Raja (CPI), Ma Child (CPI-M)
- Vikasheel Insaan Birthday party (VIP): Mukesh Sahni
The message: One individual, one vote
At its core, the marketing campaign was once a couple of unmarried word ‘vote robbery.’ Rahul Gandhi accused the Bharatiya Janata Birthday party (BJP) and the Election Fee of disenfranchising greater than 65 lakh electorate, disproportionately Dalits, OBCs, Muslims, and the deficient, throughout the Particular Extensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “This isn’t as regards to Bihar, it’s about India’s democracy,” he declared at a couple of stops, equating the march with a defence of the Charter itself.
Congress will get a brand new script
Whilst Congress has lengthy been a marginal drive in Bihar, this yatra has driven Rahul Gandhi into the position of lead protagonist within the opposition drama, quite than a supporting persona. Despite the fact that Congress has lengthy been a minor participant in Bihar politics, the yatra has additionally revived its cadre, giving native employees visibility and equipped the birthday party an opportunity to reset its organisational equipment months sooner than Bihar meeting elections.
By way of framing the combat as considered one of rights and democracy, quite than caste politics by myself, Congress seeks to leapfrog again into Bihar’s political relevance. The yatra has additionally sharpened opposition assaults at the EC, making sure the problem will reverberate in coming elections.
Symbolism and spectacle
The finale in Patna on Monday tied the marketing campaign’s rhetoric to historical past. Marching from Gandhi Maidan to Ambedkar’s statue, Rahul Gandhi invoked each leaders’ legacies, casting the yatra as a “revolution for electoral justice.”
Visuals of him in white T-shirt and native gamcha, driving jeeps and speaking to villagers, have been circulated extensively on social media through the birthday party – crafted as evidence of a grounded, out there chief. Congress chief additionally stepped into knee-deep waters to look how makhana (fox nuts) – international’s new favorite superfood from Bihar – is grown. Sharing a video of his interplay, Rahul stated all of the exhausting paintings is finished through 99 consistent with cent ‘Bahujans’ whilst the convenience is going to just 1 consistent with cent middlemen, as he vowed to struggle this “injustice”.
The controversies
However the street was once no longer with out bumps. A police constable injured in Rahul Gandhi’s convoy changed into a flashpoint for BJP assaults. In the meantime, alleged abusive remarks towards PM Modi throughout a rally in Darbhanga drew sharp and coordinated grievance from the BJP.
Each birthday party employees additionally clashes in Patna over the remarks escalating political tensions.
What is subsequent?
The yatra has undeniably energised Congress’s rank and report, repositioned Rahul Gandhi as a rights-focused challenger to PM Modi, and despatched a message of opposition team spirit in a state the place caste politics in most cases dominates. However the unanswered query stays: will this momentum remaining, or will it fade like earlier Congress spurts?For now, Rahul Gandhi leaves Bihar having became “vote robbery” right into a political combat cry and hoping his yatra is remembered much less as a roadshow, and extra as the start of a motion that interprets into leads to upcoming elections.