Rahul Gandhi still remains the pivot on which the Congress politics rests as the 4,000km Bharat Jodo Yatra he led appeared to be the sole redeeming feature of the demoralised party which has largely failed to rebuild its organisation despite two defeats in parliamentary elections.

Nobody at the plenary in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur is boasting of any dramatic revival and the only ray of hope in the abyss of despair when the media continues to build a pro-Modi narrative despite obvious failures on multiple fronts is the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Subtract the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the gloomy scenario snuffs out the flicker of hope. Sonia Gandhi gave expression to that feeling when she said at the plenary on Saturday: “Victories in 2004 and 2009 gave me satisfaction, but what gratifies me most is that my innings could conclude with the Bharat Jodo Yatra.”

Though unusually subdued, Sonia said: “The Yatra has come as a turning point. It has proved that the people of India overwhelmingly want harmony, tolerance and equality. It has renewed the rich legacy of dialogue between our party and the people through mass contact programmes. It has shown us all that the Congress stands with the people, and is ready to fight for them. I congratulate all party workers who have worked hard for the Yatra, the colleagues — young and old — who took part in it, and the lakhs of people of India for their participation, support and affection. I specially thank Rahul whose determination and leadership were crucial in the Yatra’s success.”

Acknowledging that “the path ahead is not easy”, she said: “This is a particularly challenging time, for the Congress and for the country as a whole. Prime Minister Modi and the BJP-RSS regime have relentlessly captured and subverted every single institution. It ruthlessly silences any voice of opposition. It has caused economic ruin by favouring a few chosen businessmen at the expense of all others and of the people, of the ordinary people.”

Sonia added: “And most distressingly, it fuels the fires of fear and hatred against fellow Indians. It viciously targeted minorities, and ignored crimes and discrimination against them, against women, against Dalits and against Adivasis. It mocked Gandhiji, and through its words and actions shows its contempt for the values of our Constitution.”

She asked the party under Mallikarjun Kharge to tackle the regime with boldness and vigour, and stand side-by-side with the people it attacks.

Kharge wove his presidential speech around two subjects — the positivity created by the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the negativity generated by Modi’s “disastrous” performance. “I would like to thank Rahul for creating a ray of hope at a time when it appeared there are only darkness of hate and hopelessness. There was a fear that truth will get buried. But Rahul showed everything is not lost.”

Kharge said: “The Bharat Jodo Yatra is a new dawn of hope. Rahul has turned the impossible into possible. You suffered pain, faced extreme weather but walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to give voice to the pain and struggle of the people.”

Kharge attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the growing economic inequality, saying India’s farmers struggled to earn Rs 27 a day when Modi’s “friend” earned Rs 1,000 crore daily. “The leader who hawked himself as the Pradhan Sewak is serving only the interest of his friend. He is selling to him everything the Congress built over seven decades — from rail to SAIL, from ports to airports. People are worried whether the LIC and the SBI will survive or not.”