New Delhi: The Congress party announced that its pan-India electoral outreach Haath se Haath Jodo will begin on January 26 (Republic Day), an initiative that the party believes as a “political extension” of the Bharat Jodo Yatra – a 3500 km-long foot march that Rahul Gandhi has been steering from Kanyakumari to Kashmir since September 2022.
Addressing a press briefing, the party’s spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said that the new campaign was a response to feedback from multiple quarters that the Bharat Jodo Yatra did not send out an overt electoral message and that Haath se Haath Jodo will precisely focus on Congress’s electoral outreach.
Ramesh said that Haath se Haath Jodi will be a three-layered campaign that will see foot marches, including those led by women in state capitals, conventions, rallies, and door-to-door outreach at the block, district, and state levels. “Our symbol of Haath will regain its prominence in our flyers,” he said, recalling that Bharat Jodo Yatra’s message of “unity in diversity” and “brotherhood” was more universal in character.
He said that two leaflets – an open letter to all by Rahul Gandhi and a document detailing Bharatiya Janata Party’s failures and unfulfilled promises – will be distributed at all levels, in an attempt to offer the party’s electoral vision clearly to people. Ramesh went on to release Gandhi’s letter in English and Hindi and added that it will be translated into all Indian languages.
“All Pradesh Congress Committees have already been informed to prepare for the Haath se Haath Jodo,” Ramesh said.
The new campaign, he said, will reach 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, six lakh villages, and around 10 lakh booths over two months.
“I understand that the Congress party has never undertaken such a massive outreach,” Ramesh said.
Gandhi’s letter released by Ramesh records his experiences in the 3500 km-long Bharat Jodo Yatra which he led. Gandhi says that while he heard stories from across India over the last few months, he felt that there is a “palpable economic crisis brewing”. He writes that unemployment, agrarian distress, price rise, and a “complete corporate capture of the country’s wealth” has resulted in a “deep sense of hopelessness across the country”.
#BharatJodoYatra is garnering immense support from people all over the world.
This journey is breaking down walls of hatred and ushering in winds of love and unity.
Message from Shri @RahulGandhi to the nation: pic.twitter.com/bXKDW4zV8f
— Congress (@INCIndia) January 13, 2023
Gandhi goes on to say that he will “fight to eradicate these evils – from the streets to the Parliament – every single day.”
Emphasising his claim that the country’s “plurality” is under threat, Gandhi said that the Congress party’s Haath se Haath Jodo is “our message to spread the message of unity and brotherhood”.
Meanwhile, Congress also said that it has so far invited 23 political parties to Srinagar on January 30 where the Bharat Jodo Yatra is supposed to end. Apart from the political parties in the United Progressive Alliance, other opposition parties like Trinamool Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (United), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Rashtriya Lok Dal, Janata Dal (Secular) and some smaller regional outfits have also been invited.
The gathering of opposition parties is touted as an attempt to forge an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Crucially, Ramesh said that the party hasn’t invited Aam Aadmi Party and the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM as the Congress could not imagine them as part of an anti-BJP secular alliance.