Padyatra decoded: Why politicians opt for public perambulations to regain relevance

Padyatras or public perambulations have been a fruitful and popular ploy in the arsenal of Indian politicians. These attention seeking strolls usually have a simple message – “I am one of you.” It is designed to connect and it does – with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Rahul Gandhi’s Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, scheduled to cover 3,570 kilometre, is an attempt by the Grand Old Party as something between a campaign trek and projecting the Gandhi scion as a man of the people. After the electoral bashing in the last eight years, the impact of this experiment with truth remains to be analysed when the next round of state elections occur.

The yatra also rams home the point that Rahul intends to continue as the de facto leader, without taking over the reins as Congress president. These perambulations around the country are also meant to tap into voters’ nostalgia.

It all started when Mahatma Gandhi began the “Dandi March” to protest against salt tax imposition by the British.  It ended up stoking a nationwide non-cooperation movement against the British empire.

It was a turning point in India’s freedom struggle. The Dandi March, which Mahatma Gandhi undertook from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a distance of 240 kilometres, was a single window of protest. But it opened up myriad windows of opportunity for those seeking to throw out the British from India.

It led to the Civil Disobedience Movement, and was easily the most significant organised movement against the British Raj, after the Non-Cooperation Movement of the early 1920s.

The Dandi March started from Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March, 1930. At exactly 6.30 in the morning, Gandhiji left the ashram with 79 followers and started the march. During this period, he used to address gatherings and his speeches were successful in influencing the minds of the people against the policies of the British.

This walk by a disciplined band of non-violent satyagrahis presented a new model of satyagraha which later on converted into a bigger movement at an all-India level.

Later, he did the 1946-47 Peace Marches aimed at bringing Hindus and Muslims together. The results of those marches may not have been as productive. Partition riots, killing of civilians, bifurcation of undivided India into India and Pakistan would follow. This showed once recipe may not always work.

This stylebook of political promenading has been adapted many times over.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched the Make India No 1 yatra from Haryana to counter the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra. Arvind Kejriwal has a yatra tailored for every occasion – be it the 2021 Kisan Mazdoor Khet Bachao Yatra from Rohtak to Palwal in Haryana to raise the problems of farmers, or the ’employee guarantee yatra’ before the Uttarakhand elections.

To change the perception of the people about the government’s handling of the COVID pandemic, the ruling BJP too opted for a five-day Jan Ashirwad Yatra, sending 39 Union ministers to cover 22 states.

The gladiator “Didi” of “Khela Hobe” (Game on) fame, from West Bengal took out huge padyatras in the run up to the 2011 Assembly Elections. Mamata Banerjee was responsible for the decimation of the Left Front which had clung on to power for 33 years in West Bengal.

Back in 1983, Janata Party president Chandra Shekhar began his padyatra to take on Indira Gandhi. That move helped in improving Chandra Shekhar’s stature beyond his wildest imagination. But sometimes fate is a quirky player.

The assassination of Indira Gandhi drastically reorganised the political equations. The Opposition parties sank when faced by the Congress’ whopping win bringing Rajiv Gandhi into the seat of power.

‘Raja of Manda’ VP Singh outgunned Chandra Shekhar to become the leading candidate of the Opposition towards the end of that decade. After the VP Singh government collapsed following the withdrawal of support by the BJP, Chandra Shekhar also left the Janata Dal with 64 MPs and formed his new party Janata Dal (Samajwadi).

On 10 November, 1990, Chandra Shekhar formed the government with the Congress’s support from outside. This tenure was very short-lived as the Congress pressed the eject button on a very whimsical plea.

The Padyatra changed form as the then BJP chief LK Advani introduced his motorised cavalcade in 1990. The Advani led Somnath-to-Ayodhya rath yatra opened two major windows for the BJP: Ram Temple plank and its “Kamandal” (Holy water pot) card took on the Mandal politics.

From 85 seats in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP climbed upto 120 seats in 1991. The yatra managed to whip up a strong Hindu fervour and served as confirmation of the idea that religion could decide electoral fortunes.

Founder of the Telugu Desam Party, NT Rama Rao (NTR), toured Andhra Pradesh four times in nine months. Throughout the yatra, the actor-turned-politician ate at roadside hotels, slept in his rath (his old Chevrolet was converted into a chariot) or under trees, bathed on the roadside and returned to Hyderabad only after the announcement of Assembly elections in January 1983. It was known as the ‘Chaitanya Ratham Yatra’ covering an expanse of 40,000 km.

Many leaders have dabbled in state-level yatras too. Late YS Rajasekhara Reddy stormed to power in 2003 with his padyatra across the then united Andhra Pradesh, something his son Jagan Mohan Reddy successfully emulated in 2018 in the current Andhra Pradesh.

Jagan’s party, the YSR Congress, went on to win 151 of the 175 Assembly seats and 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats from the state.

Digvijaya Singh, the coordinator of Bharat Jodo Yatra, himself conducted a six-month-long, 3,000-plus-km Narmada Parikarma, which he insisted was strictly spiritual but ended up reinforcing the Congress’ fightback in the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls.

After resigning from his chief minister’s post and recommending the dissolution of the Gujarat Assembly nine months before its term was scheduled to end, Narendra Modi launched the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in September 2002. His aim: to appeal to the “pride of the people of Gujarat”.

The yatra proved to be a great success with the BJP coming to power with an absolute majority in the 2002 Assembly elections. Modi was sworn in for a second term as chief minister.

The last time Congress launched a Bharat yatra, the political backdrop and mood were dramatically different. Prime minister and Congress president Rajiv Gandhi, riding on the record 400-plus Lok Sabha seats, announced a Congress Sandesh Yatra. This was an endeavour more geared towards thanksgiving rather than re-energising the cadres.

After Rajiv Gandhi lost power, he started a Bharat yatra in 1990 to connect with ordinary people. However, the yatra didn’t produce the desired result. A year later, on 21^st May 1991 he was assassinated at the age of 46.

Many leaders who find themselves at the intersection of foundering and stupefaction — have fallen back on this tactic invented and iconised by Mahatma Gandhi against the British. But there is always the risk of it coming off as an overly staged political stunt.

But a lot is riding on Rahul Gandhi’s padyatra where the fortunes of the Congress are concerned. Can it lead to some course correction, cadre strengthening, and lend it some heft before India decides again in 2024?

The author is CEO of nnis. Views expressed are personal.

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