Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra concluded on 30th January 2023 in Jammu and Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar to conclude his container-led walk that was initiated in Kanyakumari four months ago. At various stages during this Yatra, Rahul Gandhi went on to prove that the 50th attempt at his grand political launch ended up portraying himself as more miserable than ever. From killing Rahul Gandhi to repeating the story of his meeting with poor kids shivering in cold, the Congress MP came up with many incidents displaying his long-known traits.
Initially, Rahul Gandhi displayed his confusion as he said in the early phase of his container journey that he is not fighting any political party but he is fighting the Indian state. Accusing the BJP-led NDA government of politically using central investigation and law enforcement agencies against various leaders in the opposition parties, Rahul Gandhi said, “We’re not fighting anymore a political party. We used to fight a political party. Now the fight is between the structure of the Indian state and the opposition.” His Bharat Jodo Yatra, whose motive should have been to empower his party to rise to the top of the state again, thus found itself a degraded place in the people’s point of view.
The foot march of the Congress MP was labelled as Congress’ attempt to reconnect with the masses. Though he was seen walking during this Yatra, this tour of the Gandhi scion was no less than a luxury on wheels. The ‘foot march’ was also accompanied by a convoy of 59 containers, which were colour coded as per the availability of beds. The Congress leaders slept in these containers, which were mounted on trucks. They camped on the roadsides, ate food made by the cooking staff, and got clean laundry once every 3 days.
It is notable that in his early attempts at political launch campaigns, Rahul Gandhi would go to the households of the poor and have meals with those families. This time, in Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi abandoned his night stay in the luxury container only after left-wing student unions in Kerala protested against the container camp.
Rahul Gandhi roped in a minor girl wearing a hijab while walking in the Yatra in Kerala, indicating support for the hijab when the whole world is opposing the oppressive practice of repressing women.
Along with minority appeasement, Rahul Gandhi continued to take Hinduphobic steps the Congress party is known for. He met Rijil Chandran Makkutty the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) leader, who slaughtered a cow in broad daylight in 2017 to mock Hindu sentiments. However, in the later part of his foot march, Rahul Gandhi said that cows also participated in his Bharat Jodo Yatra and none of them was killed, ignoring the fact that he welcomed a cow-killer in his Yatra while in Kerala.
During the Kerala and Karnataka legs of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Veer Savarkar’s photo appeared on the local banners of the foot march. It is pertinent to note that Congress has made it a point to deride the freedom fighter Veer Savarkar whenever they get the opportunity. Rahul Gandhi took this opportunity when his march reached Maharashtra – the land Savarkar hailed from.
The Congress scion went on a vitriolic tirade against Veer Savarkar during the Maharashtra leg of his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra.’ On November 15, 2022, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the freedom fighter took a pension from the British government to work against the Indian National Congress (INC). Again on November 17, 2022, he reiterated that Veer Savarkar helped the British government and wrote mercy petitions “out of fear”. Rahul Gandhi accused the Indian freedom fighter of betraying the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, and Mahatma Gandhi in the Akola district of Maharashtra. Multiple cases were filed against him for making such statements.
Rahul Gandhi also gave some apparently crazy statements during this Yatra. Once he said that he met an RSS member who weighed 100 kg and went to Kedarnath in a helicopter, unlike Rahul Gandhi who claimed that he trekked several kilometres to reach the Kedarnath temple and avoided the helicopter ride despite it being easily available.
The fiasco of the Rahul Gandhi’s martial arts lesson to Congress leaders to ‘physically’ ward off RSS and BJPNepal anthem being played at Bharat Jodo Yatra
On November 16, a shockingly funny incident happened during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra when the Nepalese National Anthem was played instead of Indian National Anthem. Furthermore, Rahul Gandhi and other leaders on the stage kept calling it National Song while the National Anthem, ‘Jana Gana Mana,’ was supposed to be played.
Rahul Gandhi’s martial arts lesson to Congress leaders to ‘physically’ ward off RSS and BJP
On November 26, 2022, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi left netizens amused over his grand ‘political strategy’ to fight the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party. In a video shared by seasoned Congress loyalist Anshuman Sail, Gandhi was seen teaching his fellow party men the art of using the ‘energy’ of opponents.
The self-proclaimed martial arts expert politician then compelled a Congress leader to sit on his knees and then proceeded to push him from the front. When the said leader failed to maintain his balance, Rahul Gandhi suggested a way to take the opponent’s energy instead.
Rahul Gandhi shoves the phone of a man who wanted to click a selfie
On December 21, 2022, a video of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) went viral where the Congress leader was seen pushing down the phone of a fan who wanted a selfie with him. The video appeared to be from Rajasthan and was shot early morning on December 21, Gandhi was seen surrounded by his supporters on the stage.
All of them wanted to get clicked with the leader and started pushing each other. Irked by the situation, Gandhi angrily pushed down the phone of a fan who was trying to get a selfie with him. He seemed irritated with the attempt to take a selfie with him and did not allow the man to take the selfie.
Boasting about his ‘courage’ as Rahul went about fighting winter in a t-shirt
When the Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Delhi, at that time, it was chilling cold in the national capital. But Rahul Gandhi was seen wearing just a t-shirt. For this, he was hailed by his supporters. Some of them called Rahul Gandhi a PM candidate for showing this ‘courage’ to wear a t-shirt in cold. Salman Khurshid compared Rahul Gandhi with Lord Ram for this. Others in Haryana’s Karnal danced shirtless in the biting cold in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) after the Congress leader was hailed as Prime Minister candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for wearing just a t-shirt.
‘When Arjun was focusing on the eye of the fish, did he reveal about his future course of action?’
As if there was a lack of bizarreness in the foot march, Rahul Gandhi drew bizarre analogies between his ambitious ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and the Swayamvar of Draupadi from the Hindu epic ‘Mahabharata.’ In a video shared very proudly by the official Twitter handle of the Congress party, he was heard as saying, “When Arjuna was focusing on the eye of the fish, did he announce his future course of action to everyone?”
Rahul Gandhi made the remarks upon being asked about his plans, following the conclusion of his political foot pilgrimage. He had compared himself to Arjuna and erroneously claimed that the warrior did not know about the fruits of his actions (the task to hit the eye of a fish).
‘I have killed Rahul Gandhi. He is just in your head’: Rahul Gandhi
Continuing the whimsical and vague statements in the new calendar year, Rahul Gandhi said on 8th January 2023 in Samana of Haryana, “Rahul Gandhi is in your head. I have killed him. He does not exist anymore. He is not in my mind. He is gone. Gone. The person you are seeing is not Rahul Gandhi. You are seeing him.”
He added, “You did not understand. Read Hindu Dharma a little. Read about Shiv Ji. You will understand. Do not get confused. Do not get confused. Rahul Gandhi is in your head. He does not exist in my head. Rahul Gandhi is in BJP’s head. He does not exist in my head. Why are you so confused? I do not care about the image. I do not have an interest in the image. You can keep the image you like. It concerns you, not me. I do not care. I want to do my work. Why are you so confused?”
Pujaris vs Tapasvis gibberish
Rahul Gandhi continued his habit of spurting out drivel as he addressed a press conference on 9th January 2023 in Kurukshetra during the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra. Speaking at a public rally in Kurukshetra, the place where the Mahabharata battle took, Gandhi, invoked Pandavas and claimed that they were ‘tapasvis‘ and had supporters of ‘all religions’, leaving many wondering which all religions existed during the times of Mahabharata.
‘Dogs, cows, buffaloes, and pigs joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra’
In one instance, Rahul Gandhi’s speech during Bharat Jodo Yatra had the internet into a tizzy after he said ‘dogs, cows, buffaloes, and pigs attended the Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
Speaking at a public rally in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said, “I don’t know if you have noticed it or not, but in this campaign(BJY), dogs participated, but no one killed them. Cows, buffaloes, and pigs also joined in, I saw them. All animals came. This Yatra is like our India. There is no hatred or violence here.”
As the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Jammu and Kashmir, Rahul Gandhi started wearing jackets due to the cold weather and snowfall in the valley. Congress party came ahead to say that Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier said that those who wear sweaters fear cold, does not actually fear cold.
In this last phase of the foot march, the Congress leader repeated his story about poor kids shivering in cold. In Delhi, while telling the reason behind wearing just a t-shirt, he said that he saw three poor girls shivering in the cold. The girls did not have a sweater or jacket. Rahul Gandhi said that he decided at that time not to wear a sweater or a jacket unless those poor kids get a sweater to wear. However, he wore a jacket in Srinagar where he repeated the same story and told that he saw 4 kids shivering in cold in Kanyakumari when he started this Yatra and decided not to wear a jacket unless he is bothered by the cold.
This Bharat Jodo Yatra had several other incidents which actually turned it into a Bharat Todo Yatra. Rahul Gandhi as usual examined the patience of the common sense of the people wherever he visited during this foot march. He managed to do so with his statements and actions. If at all anything was left to make it look miserable, people losing their relevance with every passing day this march at various stages. The list includes, Kamal Hasan, Mahesh Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt, Kunal Kamra, Shyam Manav, Raghuram Rajan, Yogendra Yadav, Medha Patkar, and many others. Bharat Jodo Yatra finally concluded on 30th January 2023, at Srinagar.