I
This is with reference to the article, “Rahul Gandhi’s 100 days yatra” (Dec. 27). Rahul Gandhi and rest of the yatris having marched over the past 100 days in the momentum-ascending Bharat Jodo Yatra bears testimony to their physical endurance and the nation-wide support the Congress party has gained over the last 3 months now. The completion of a hundred days of the yatra in itself is a success, and a good moment to reflect what it has achieved politically.
Perhaps, a significant gain for the party from the yatra is that party cadres, who were despondent and downcast with the party leadership, have started believing in it again. This is no mean achievement. In fact, when the yatra was completed in the southern States, C-Voter conducted a survey which showed that Rahul Gandhi’s approval ratings had considerably improved in all the States where the yatra had passed through. It remains to be seen to what extent Rahul Gandhi’s image has been revived, and how far the yatra will help the Congress in its preparations for the LS 2024 polls.
Ranganathan Sivakumar
Tamil Nadu
II
The Yatra that is currently debated all over the country is the ‘Bharat-Jodo-Yatra’ of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi from Kanyakumari to Jammu and Kashmir. As a matter of fact, one hundred twenty-five years old, Rahul’s party, over the years, has been going through its worst phase in history. This Yatra may have started to unite the country, enhance mutual harmony and eradicate hatred. However, the Yatra’s political aim is still precise and hidden, that is, to strengthen the party’s base and return to power. Evidently, barring a few exceptions, political Yatras are often undertaken by parties and their leaders who are out of power and lustre, and through these yatras, they want to woo the voters and harvest the votes. All kinds of people are attending Rahul’s Yatra. In the front are those who are financially safe and sound. They are least bothered by inflation or unemployment. They have their own interests and compulsions to join the march. As for the rest, they are, by and large, used to hearing to such promises/announcements. The crux of the situation is that no matter which government is in power or how many Yatras are being held, much-debated inflation and unemployment can only go away once the population explosion stops. For reasons best known to him only, Rahul did not talk about this crucial issue at all anywhere during his Yatra.
Dr Shiben Krishen Raina
Dubai
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