It was a spectacle for the people of Kanyakumari to see top leaders of a national party descend into the southernmost tip of India to begin the long march their party leader Rahul Gandhi wanted to undertake in an attempt to revive the party. The entire Congress machinery was bustling with energy on the morning of Thursday, September 8, when Rahul started his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Agastheeswaram. Local residents seemed to be in awe to see top-tier leaders, who they had only seen on television, walking on their narrow roads sweating it out with the party cadre. All in an attempt to rejuvenate the party for the upcoming polls in 2024.
Party workers from all the districts were mobilised and brought to participate in the launch event, as well as the yatra in the state. Around 500 party workers were present from Chengalpattu unit of the party alone. The two pressing challenges that Congress party faces at this juncture is to create a buzz in the country through the yatra and attract youngsters towards the party. The air was filled with sounds of drum rolls, echoes of 'Vande Mataram' and ‘Rahul Gandhi Vaazhga,’ when the ‘Indhiya Otrumai Payanam’ as it is named in Tamil kicked off, but the unrelenting heat dampened their enthusiasm four kilometres later. The party hopes to cover around 22-25 kms a day and will walk between 7.30 to 10.30 am and 3.30 to 6.30 pm every day.
Rahul met with several people, including Dalit and women activists, the brother of Anitha - the student who died after failing to secure a medical seat through NEET exams and children who were part of Jawahar Bal Manch. During his interaction with children of Jawahar Bal Manch in Suchindram, a student asked Rahul Gandhi why he chose to walk instead of a bus or train. To which Rahul responded saying he wanted to undertake a slightly difficult journey. “If you are going by bus or train, you are not going to meet so many people. If you are walking, you are meeting quite a few people,” he explained.
The interaction with the students also included several questions about Rahul’s plans for the education system, women empowerment and his childhood. On the education front, Rahul said that it had serious problems, “The problem is not failing at something, but how you react after you fail at something. So this idea that we really punish people who do not succeed is not a good idea. You must encourage them and be compassionate to them,” he added. Sharing his childhood experiences, he said, “My grandmother sometimes would hide behind the curtains. When I came back from school, she would hide behind the curtains and jump at me to scare me. I liked that.”
Educationist Prince Gajendra Babu, who was a part of the interaction team, said that under the prevailing situation, the Union government refused to acknowledge the rights and powers of the state as granted by the Indian constitution. “In such a situation, when people lose their faith in democracy which we have managed to safeguard for 75 years, it leads to autocracy and dictatorship. We see this yatra as one that gives hope to people,” he said.
Karikalan, a member of Swaraj party, travelled from Karur on a nearly 350-km journey to express solidarity with the yatra. “People know what is happening around them. They are watching constantly. This yatra will remind them of the injustices happening around them and unite them together,” he said and added that this yatra would definitely impact the 2024 polls.
Party workers are hopeful of the yatra bearing a positive impact. "I don't think this will be a mere political stunt. I hope Rahul meets people on the way and not only those scheduled to meet him. After all, this is an event happening to communicate with the public, and there should be no one blocking it," said Raju, a party worker from Kanyakumari.
However, this doesn't seem completely possible due to safety concerns. Police personnel on duty at several spots stressed on the protocol that has to be followed in providing security to a national level leader (Rahul Gandhi is given Z plus security). "It is a tightrope walk for us. We can't exert too much force to control the crowd, as the party wants to allow its cadre to meet the leader. But our duty is to keep him and others safe," said a police official.
While the party has come to understand that the South does play an important role in electoral politics and it is not enough to meet them only during elections, the ground was still largely covered by those from Delhi. This included a major section of the media covering the event, participants and those enlisted as yatris.
The containers in which the yatris, including Rahul Gandhi, are to reside during the 3,570 km-long-rally, will be moving and be parked in locations where the yatra will be paused for the night. Around 50 containers have been arranged with facilities to sleep, a washroom and air-conditioning.
For Kanyakumari, a walkathon of this magnitude meant traffic blocks, lack of cooked food in hotels and a massive surge of people in addition to tourists. "This entire road was blocked yesterday evening itself, and no buses or vehicles were allowed. I had to walk five kilometres to reach my house," 56-year-old Susammal told TNM. The walkathon was kicked off on Wednesday by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin, at the Mahatma Gandhi Mandapam in Kanyakumari.