Difference between Rahul’s padyatra and BJP’s rath yatras

When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ask the Union home minister, Amit Shah, to undertake a yatra from Jammu to Srinagar he was not only questioning the claim of improved security situation in the newly-carved out Union Territory, but was also trying to draw a distinction between the Padyatra (foot march) and rat yatra (motorized march or journey). This is simply because the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have in the past undertaken several rath yatras, but not padyatra of this dimension. Thus, there is a need to discuss the two different types of mass contact campaigns undertaken in the last one century.

Tracing the History

The history of yatra in India can be traced back in the freedom movement, when Mahatma Gandhi undertook his March to Dandi in 1930. He walked 385 kilometres to broke the Salt Law of the British government. He, along with his 78 followers, stepped out from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on March 12, 1930 and reached Dandi on April 6, 1930. He succeeded in achieving his objective.

The padyatra is a preferred tool adopted by an individual or party struggling to stand up against a powerful establishment or make a political comeback. While Gandhiji introduced the concept of walkathon as a weapon to fight the imperialists (fast being the other one), the then Janata Party president, Chandrashekar, and Rahul Gandhi hit the roads to bring a new lease of life in their respective parties.

Contrary to this, motorized trip is often made by the ruling party leaders (for example Lal Krishna Advani as the deputy PM in 2004 and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar quite regularly) or those who still have palpable presence in the political sphere. The saffron party have resorted to such an exercise several times.

Advani’s Rath Yatras

BJP’s patriarch Lal Krishna Advani had embarked on six nation-wide journeys on air-conditioned van. The first one, Somnath to Ayodhya Ram Rath Yatra, which started off on September 25, 1990, paved the way for party’s further success in the years to come. It is other thing that he was arrested at Samastipur in Bihar on October 23, 1990 at the order of chief minister Lalu Prasad.

His last one, Jan Chetna Yatra, which kicked off from Shitab Diara (Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan’s birthplace) in Bihar’s Saran district on October 11, 2011 drove the last nail in his political fortune. He chose JP’s birthday for this occasion and his 41-day journey was flagged off by Nitish Kumar. The then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was conspicuous by his absence.

Two years later on June 16, 2013 Nitish snapped ties with the BJP and on September 13 the same year Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, was made the saffron party’s Prime Ministerial face. Advani was left high and dry.

Modi, had 31 years ago, accompanied the then party chief Murli Manohar Joshi, in Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra. Named as Ekta Yatra Joshi’s big carcade was flagged of on December 11, 1991 and reached Lal Chowk in Srinagar on January 26, 1992. His cavalcade was stopped in Jammu for security reason on January 25, 1992 and from here he was air-lifted to Srinagar where he hoisted the Tricolour a day later.

Cosmetic Exercise

Unlike padyatras the luxurious motorized journeys are essentially a cosmetic exercise and do not give yatris much opportunity to mingle with the common masses. Against 20-25 km walk undertaken daily by the Mahatma, Chandrashekar and Rahul, the rath yatras, on an average, covered 200 km everyday.

Thus, those who take part do not get a first-hand knowledge of the problems and hardships people are facing as they do not get much opportunity to listen to the common masses. The rath yatras are largely one-sided affair and thus cannot be undertaken to re-build any party or organization from scratch—as Chandrashekar try to do in 1983 and Rahul now. It is other thing that the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 and subsequent sympathy wave poured cold water on Chandrashekar’s efforts—the first such nation-wide exercise to be taken up by anyone. Congress swept the poll.

When Advani launched his first yatra from Somnath in 1990 his party had already revived itself from two seats in 1984 to 89 in 1989 Lok Sabha poll. Its fortune was on the upswing. He just wanted to fully capitalize on the existing political turmoil within the Janata Dal after the implementation of Mandal Commission in August 1990. Thus it turned out to be the first mass-level mobilization in the direction of building Ram Mandir.

On the other hand, padyatras are not superficial in nature and are a much rooted exercise. The fellow-travellers experience the pain and agony of the downtrodden section of the society, especially of the ruralized hinterland. They may have been reminded of the lakhs of Indians who were rendered homeless and had to cover hundreds of kilometres under scorching heat after the sudden announcement of lockdown on March 24, 2020. Many perished much before reaching their homes.

Bharat Uday Yatra

Advani undertook several other motorized yatras, one even after the National Democratic Alliance came to power in 1998.

Just before the 2004 Lok Sabha election he, as the deputy prime minister of India, launched Bharat Uday Yatra, another such nation-wide trip. Though the BJP was basking in the glory of India Shining yet the exercise did not yield the desired result as the NDA was voted out of power on May 13, 2004.

Politicians often relish in undertaking Yatras. The most prominent one is Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who on January 5, 2023 launched his Samadhan Yatra—fourteenth in the last two decades. Barring a couple of initial yatras all his motorized trips have been undertaken as the chief minister of the
state.

These exercises are more bureaucratic in nature in which the CM would inspect the developmental works done in the state. In the process he would meet some people. The turn-out in such yatras is not so much spontaneous as in the padyatras.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on October 2 last launched his padyatra in Bihar. He has announced that he would touch all the nooks and corners of the state. But his political line does not appear to be clear.

However, the truth is that it is not so easy for the leader of any ruling party to undertake nation-wide foot march. – INDIA NEWS STREAM