Monday Musings: Politics of the ‘yatra’ embedded in DNA of all parties

There’s a common thread through the political parties of India, of yatras or long journeys clubbed with rallies, speeches and a political motive

During July 2019, Maharashtra was witnessing a moderate monsoon, with rain taking intermittent breaks, when the state’s political atmosphere began to heat up, as the state was heading for assembly elections in the next four months.

Yatra politics: Union minister Narayan Rane (centre) on his Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Konkan, a few hours before his arrest from Sangameshwar on August 24. (HT)

That was when Aaditya Thackeray, then just a Yuva Sena leader, decided to undertake a statewide yatra to thank the people who voted for the Shiv Sena in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, and to seek their blessings for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Not to mention, that was also called a Jan Ashirwad yatra. Even as the Shiv Sena did not get the seats it targeted, the yatra brought political stature to Aaditya, who later became a cabinet minister in Maharashtra.

While the latest Jan Ashirwad yatra undertaken by BJP leader and Union minister Narayan Rane had nothing in common with that of Thackeray’s, both, like many others, had strong political motives.

If there’s a common thread through the political parties of India, of yatras or long journeys clubbed with rallies, speeches and a political motive.

In Maharashtra, yatras have done magic, particularly for the BJP when it was not in the game in state politics.

In the mid-1990s, late BJP leader Gopinath Munde had undertaken a major journey, what was then called a Sangharsh yatra (journey of struggle).

If Munde, along with party colleague, the late Pramod Mahajan, was responsible for the BJP’s meteoric rise in Maharashtra, his Sangharsh Yatra is believed to have contributed significantly to the victory of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the 1995 state assembly elections.

Through whirlwind statewide tours, Munde addressed more than 150 meetings, exposing various scams of the Congress-led government, which went on defensive.

Later in 2014, Munde’s daughter Pankaja Palve-Munde led another 14-day tour – this time called the “Punha Ekda Sangharsh Yatra (Once again, Journey of struggle) - on the lines of a similar expedition to her father’s, to evoke his memories.

Her tour came days after the sudden demise of her father that shook state BJP unit.

It’s not just BJP leaders who have undertaken such yatras. Parties of all hues have hit the streets with roadshows to rev up their message on topics dominating the news cycle or divert attention from issues that are problematic.

Does such a yatra really help any leader to turn the tide in his favour? The answer can be mixed, even as it helps politicians to stir up the atmosphere, galvanise the cadre and create a buzz. After all, it allows politicians to come to peoples’ doorsteps instead of the other way round.

This is probably the reason that the response yatras receive is often amazing and helps in political mobilisation.

At the same time, the grandeur of a yatra with a focused theme also helps connect better with the target audience.

Just before 2019 assembly polls, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar embarked on similar expedition. Called the ‘’Shivswarajya Yatra’’, the aim was to launch a mass outreach programme, starting from Shivneri Fort in Pune’s Junnar taluka, the birth place of Chhatrapati Shivaji.

The mother of all yatras that gave a new lifeline to the BJP in the early 1990s was the one taken out by party patriarch LK Advani. The Rath Yatra on the Ram Mandir issue helped the BJP achieve power at the Centre later. That yatra was also identified by Advani’s rivals for arousing communal passions that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Yatras existed even before that. Originally, Mahatma Gandhi popularised the concept during the freedom struggle, though later it was used as a political instrument by leaders.

Accordingly, for Rane, the goal is clear - to regain his lost grip over the Konkan and also to help his party the BJP, wrest power in the upcoming Brihan Mumbai elections.

However, controversy generated over Rane’s “slapping the chief minister” comments may have helped Uddhav Thackeray more, as it galvanised the Shiv Sainiks, who perform better on the streets than through any government.

Yogesh Joshi can be contacted at yogesh.joshi@htlive.com