Key to Congress’ survival is South, the response to Bharat Jodo Yatra so far shows Rahul Gandhi

The support the yatra has received so far in Tamil Nadu and Kerala has surprised even Congress leaders.

Thousands of people — some members of the Congress or supporters of the party and others who have nothing to do with Congress but connect with the pitched purpose of the yatra — have been coming together to participate, even if it is for shorter hauls.

People lining the route of the yatra and families with children making a beeline in the rain and sun holding flowers and flags were a common sight in Kerala.

Rahul Gandhi with other Congress leaders on Day 6 of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kerala on 12 September, 2022. (Supplied)

National TV channels that covered the launch of the yatra in Kanyakumari have left, the news of the yatra has gone from Page One headlines to news briefs tucked away on the inside pages of national newspapers, but people haven’t stopped pouring in.

“Rahul Gandhi has great support in Kerala. The Congress is not a dead horse in Kerala, but its leaders are idiots not to use it to their advantage. People still have faith in them,” writer and political columnist Paul Zachariya told South First.

The Congress is in coalition with the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, and has a strong cadre and grassroots organisational structure in Kerala. One could credit the support for the Bharat Jodo Yatra to this. It is also the nostalgia, excitement, and curiosity that is driving the yatra.

“It is heartwarming to see thousands of people walking with us, welcoming us, and greeting us along the yatra route. All of this love towards Rahul Gandhi indicates that people are with us,” Indian Youth Congress president BV Srinivas told South First while walking in the yatra.

In Assembly poll-bound Karnataka, the yatra will go on for 21 days — one of the longest schedules.

Karnataka is among the states where the Congress has a strong leadership and voter base.

People lining up on roads, atop buildings and balconies to get a glimpse of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Thiruvananthapuram. (Anusha Ravi Sood/South First)

Despite its drubbing in the 2018 Assembly election, the Congress had the highest vote share in Karnataka. This, despite coastal Karnataka being dubbed the “Hindutva laboratory” for the RSS and BJP, where the saffron party has an unwavering hold.

While it is barely touch and go in Andhra Pradesh, where it sees no prospects of revival yet, the Congress hopes to bridge the cracks within its unit during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Telangana, especially ahead of the Munugode Assembly bypoll.

If the public response that the Bharat Jodo Yatra has witnessed in its first week is anything to go by, it is clear that the key to the Congress’ survival is in the south. It would do well for leaders of the Congress to look south for support in their purported ideological battle with BJP.

If the footfall in the yatra was not an indication enough, the Congress’ numbers in Parliament also indicate as much.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra route. (Supplied)

The Congress has 31 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Seven out of the 31 are from the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

Among the 53 MPs the Congress has in the Lok Sabha, nearly half — 25, including Rahul Gandhi himself — are from the southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Telangana.

When it comes to electoral prospects, the Congress draws its biggest strength from the south, but the support is on a downward slide. With the Bharat Jodo yatra, the Congress is trying to consolidate its support base and build on it.

Being more accommodating of the southern interests of federalism, progressive social welfare, and regionalism may be the way forward for the Congress to lay the foundations of its revival.

After a successful first week in two southern states and a similar response expected in Karnataka and Telangana, what should bother the Congress is whether the momentum is sustainable beyond the Vindhyas, where the party is on a weak wicket.