Rahul’s yatra in Madhya Pradesh a morale booster for Congress cadre ahead of Lok Sabha polls

After being on the road for nearly five days, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ended its run in Madhya Pradesh

After being on the road for nearly five days, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ended its run in Madhya Pradesh on March 6, with party workers in the areas it covered saying that the march has re-energised the cadre ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 

Mr. Gandhi, who entered the State on March 2 from Morena in the Gwalior-Chambal region, concluded the yatra in Ratlam of the Malwa-Nimar region. After staying the night in Ratlam, he will enter Rajasthan on Thursday. The yatra covered more than 650 km and passed through eight Lok Sabha constituencies, with Mr. Gandhi holding various public meetings, nukkad sabhas, and roadshows. 

In most of the public events, Mr. Gandhi’s main plank remained a nationwide caste census as he launched scathing attacks at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP, accusing them of doing social and economic injustice to Dalits, tribals and OBCs, who, he said, formed about 73% of India’s population. Claiming that the 73% population was not getting proper representation in both public and private sectors, the former Congress president pitched the idea of a caste census as a solution. The party has already promised to conduct the exercise if it is voted to power at the Centre.  

Several Congress workers from Ratlam and Mandsaur Lok Sabha seats, who were waiting for Mr. Gandhi at Ratlam’s Favvara Chowk with flags and roses in their hands, said the march has given a morale booster to party workers across the State, who had only in November last year suffered a massive defeat in the Assembly elections. 

Satya Narayan Laxcar, a Congress councillor from Mandsaur, where his party had lost seven out of eight Assembly seats under the Lok Sabha constituency, said the party workers in his area were not willing to step out of the house after the State polls. 

“It had come to a point where we were conducting local meetings but workers were not turning up at all. They were also scared of the BJP workers as they did not have any strong representation in the region to support them,” said Mr. Laxcar, who is also a PCC delegate. 

He, however, added, “But today you can see hundreds of workers from Mandsaur have come here. Our place is about 90 km from here but even small workers have spent from their own pockets and come here. The reason is that they relate to what Rahul ji is fighting for.”