The Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has, unsurprisingly, led to much political sabre-rattling. The Bharatiya Janata Party has not lost an opportunity to needle its rivals on a number of irrelevant issues, ranging from Rahul Gandhi’s sartorial tastes to describing the exercise as yet another endeavour to save the Congress’s First Family. Curiously, there has been some heartburn over the yatra from within the Congress rank and file too. Some have wondered about the prudence of prioritising an ostensibly apolitical engagement at a time when crucial assembly elections are on the radar. This line of thinking argues that the party should have devoted its energy and resources in preparing for these polls next year.

The leitmotif of the Bharat Jodo Yatra is reform. The Congress is hoping that the march — the yatra is expected to cover 3,500 kilometres across 12 states in five months — would help the party resurrect some of the foundational values of the republic in the public consciousness. There is no doubt that this is the need of the hour. The political ascendancy of the Bharatiya Janata Party has coincided with unprecedented pressure on fraternity, federalism, pluralism, inclusion — the building bricks of Indian democracy. Mobilising collective support for these could change — reform? — the prevailing public mood that is enchanted with the divisive message of Hindutva. There could be a collateral gain in the process: the reformation of a moribund Congress. That the party has lost its mass appeal has been borne out by a series of electoral debacles. An enthusiastic public response to the yatra, especially in northern India where the Congress is now a marginal force, could breathe life into the party and its fractious leadership. There is a third aspect about the yatra that is not being discussed adequately. The campaign, if successful, could alter the way in which political parties perceive traditional modes of mobilisation. The increasing use of social media by politicians as a means of communication in the digital age has led to politicians and parties shunning the long march as an effective strategy to rally the people. Yet, yatras have had a long and illustrious history. M.K. Gandhi in subjugated India, or L.K. Advani, in liberated India, made capital use of journeys across the nation to build opinion. The Bharat Jodo Yatra could build bridges to close the communication gap.