The leaderships of the Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party, two of the Congress’s most important allies in the INDIA bloc, have declared that their respective workforces will abstain from the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is being led by Rahul Gandhi.
In a related development, the Congress has directed its state units to work with civil society organizations that have united under the banner of “Bharat Jodo Abhiyan” (BJA) in an effort to strengthen the party’s weak organizational strength. In preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJA will train staff members to lead the party’s door-to-door campaigns in “100 targeted constituencies” spread across 15 states.
The Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is currently being organised by the Congress with help from the BJA, a coalition of activists and civil society organisations.
Congress general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal wrote a letter to the party’s state units on Monday, requesting them to “respond positively to any BJA team approaching you in your state,” “designate a point person” to act as the party’s liaison with the BJA, and ask all district units where “the BJA targeted constituencies fall to collaborate at the ground level.” In order to “ensure an active and fruitful collaboration” between the Bharat Jodo Abhiyan and the party’s state units in their respective states, Venugopal made this request.
Meanwhile, a few of the Congress party’s allies in the INDIA bloc have either stated that they will not be participating in the Manipur to Mumbai Yatra or have declined the party’s invitations to do so. Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, declared on Wednesday that he was “unlikely” to participate in the yatra when it passed through Uttar Pradesh. The 67-day yatra will spend 11 days in Uttar Pradesh after it leaves Nagaland today. In Lucknow, Yadav declared, “Neither the Congress nor the BJP invites us to their programmes,” kicking off his party’s statewide yatra.
The Bihar chief minister was displeased with allies for not acknowledging his contribution to the formation of the INDIA bloc, so it is unclear if Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar will participate in the Gandhi-led yatra in Patna. Lalu Prasad, the president of Rashtriya Janata Dal, stated on Wednesday that the negotiations over seat sharing were going well. “Do these things happen so fast? In response to a question, Prasad said, “Progress is underway.”
Additionally, the Trinamool Congress has informed the Congress that unless the seat-sharing negotiations are concluded, it will not take part in the yatra. Chief of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), Prakash Ambedkar, responded to a Congress invitation in Maharashtra by saying he would take part if the VBA was invited to join the INDIA bloc and the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.
