Imphal Congress march: Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra and 2024 Indian elections.

Rahul Gandhi, a prominent member of the opposition Congress party, has started a 4,163-mile (6,700-kilometer) march across India with only a few months till the general election.

It occurs about a year after Mr. Gandhi completed a 4,000-kilometer “unity march” that took him from Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari at the southernmost point of the nation.

Imphal Congress march: Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra and 2024 Indian elections.

This time, the trip would take him by bus and on foot from east to west. In 66 days, he hopes to reach Mumbai by covering 100 parliamentary seats spread across 110 districts in 15 states, several of which are very important in elections.

Congress flags floated in the air as Mr. Gandhi spoke at a gathering on Sunday in Imphal, the capital of the northeastern state of Manipur, marking the beginning of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (United India Justice March).

Manipur’s dominant Meitei and minority Kuki clans have been engaged in severe ethnic hostilities over the past eight months. The violence has resulted in thousands of families being uprooted and over 200 deaths.

However, despite a heavy security presence, thousands of women applauded when prominent Congress officials spoke to the assembly on the bright afternoon. Waikhom Ibemma Devi was one of them, and she gave her thoughts on the difficult existence in the state. “Whenever I go to a relief camp, I feel sad looking at the victims,” she stated.

“We are aware of the suffering endured by the people of Manipur. Mr. Gandhi addressed the assembly, saying, “And we promise you, we commit to you, that we will bring back what you valued.”

The unification march last year, according to many analysts and Congress supporters like Tehseen Poonawala, “recharged party workers and gave the Congress organization, often criticised for being lethargic, a shakeup,” enhancing Mr. Gandhi’s political image.

They anticipate that the current campaign, which calls for social, political, and economic justice for the majority, will follow suit.As for the party’s chances in the polls, writer and author Neerja Chowdhury notes that “people like it when politicians come to them to listen but whether this makes a difference in the elections is debatable.”

The opposition is trying to stop the wildly popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi from winning three straight elections, which is why the march is taking place. According to a recent survey, he is expected to stay in power.

“The incumbent BJP [Bharaitya Janata Party] unquestionably maintains the upper hand as the battle for 2024 begins in earnest,” stated Milan Vaishnav, a senior scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Gandhi has always been portrayed by the BJP as a lighthearted politician who was up amid affluence. Party chief Ravi Shankar Prasad stated last week that “Rahul Gandhi is not taken seriously in our country.”In India, the BJP currently controls 12 out of 28 states, with coalition administrations in three of those states after the Congress recently lost three state elections. The Congress, which dominated India for many years following the country’s 1947 independence, now only controls three states.

The government vigorously refutes the accusations made by the opposition, which claims that during Mr. Modi’s ten years in office, there has been a decline in democracy and civil liberties, abuse of federal investigative agencies, destruction of government buildings, and an increase in the culture of hate and violence against minorities and marginalized communities.

Relations between the two sides have gotten worse after almost 150 opposition MPs were suspended recently for demanding a government declaration regarding a security breach in the house.

It’s hardly surprising that some, like former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha, are referring to the next elections as a “do or die situation” for the opposition in such a politically charged climate.

The party thinks that by starting the campaign in conflict-torn Manipur and using Mr. Gandhi’s justice march, they would attract media and public attention.The violent conflict in the tiny state, which has long been marginalized in Indian politics, gained international attention in July after a video surfaced online of a crowd harassing and parading two nude women. “Shameful” is how Prime Minister Modi described the episode.

However, the Congress has consistently chastised Mr. Modi for his refusal to intervene in the ongoing violence and for not traveling to the state. Sunday was no different.

“Why is the Prime Minister silent for eight months?” Jairam Ramesh, a congressman, told the BBC. “He hasn’t been in Imphal even for an hour.”

Although the participants at the march had little faith in politicians of any color, they were optimistic about its outcome.

Party worker Maibam Sarda Leima declared, “Our Manipur is burning.” “[But] we hope Mr Gandhi will understand our problems and talk about them.”Amidst the march, the Congress is engaged in intense election talks with members of INDIA, a 28-member opposition coalition of regional parties with radically different political philosophies.

Several analysts think that the alliance is still having difficulty presenting convincing arguments for seat sharing and a leader who will serve as a “counterpoint to Mr. Modi”.

There are also indications of disagreement within the alliance regarding the march’s schedule.

Concerns were expressed by KC Tyagi of Janata Dal (United) regarding Mr. Gandhi’s protracted departure from Delhi and its effects on election campaigns, seat-sharing negotiations, and preparations for public events aimed at showcasing a unified opposition front.

“This is not the time [for the march],” he stated. “If you are so serious about national integration, go for a long march in June or July [after the elections].”

Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (the Sharad Pawar group), among other coalition partners, however, stated that Mr. Gandhi’s march would not be a problem and that he would be reachable by phone if necessary.A week prior to Mr. Modi’s scheduled ceremonial opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, to which prominent Congress leaders have declined invitations, the march got underway.

The location, which Hindus consider to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, has been the subject of intense dispute between Muslims and Hindus for many years. The Supreme Court granted Hindus permission to erect a temple on the property in 2019.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s spiritual mentor and longtime supporter of the cause, has already launched a sizable outreach initiative to encourage citizens to plan festivities all throughout the nation.

Though it stated that religion was a matter of personal choice and that any Congress worker was welcome to attend, the Congress labeled the gathering as the BJP’s “political project” for electoral purposes. Refusing the invitation, some prominent Hindu seers claimed it went against Hindu customs.

The Congress stance has been dubbed “anti-Hindu” by the BJP.

The major event is being extensively covered by the predominantly pro-government electronic media, and it will be interesting to watch how the competition for media coverage develops in the run-up to the elections.