Rahul Gandhi and his niece, Miraya Vadra, spent hours at the Nehru-Gandhi family’s ancestral home, Anand Bhavan, during the Congress leader’s stay in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj for an event as part of the ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ student movement against paper leaks, exam irregularities, and rising fees, on August 8. He began his speech at the event by talking about their family home. Gandhi said that is why coming to Prayagraj always feels special.
Once known as an academic and political
Rahul Gandhi and his niece, Miraya Vadra, spent hours at the Nehru-Gandhi family’s ancestral home, Anand Bhavan, during the Congress leader’s stay in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj for an event as part of the ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ student movement against paper leaks, exam irregularities, and rising fees, on August 8. He began his speech at the event by talking about their family home. Gandhi said that is why coming to Prayagraj always feels special.
Once known as an academic and political hub, Prayagraj is now largely associated with the Mahakumbh Mela, a six-week festival and one of the world’s largest gatherings of humanity at the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
Prayagraj (previously Allahabad) was a major centre of the Indian independence movement and known as the city of prime ministers. Seven prime ministers, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Gulzarilal Nanda, Indira Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, and Chandra Shekhar, were born or studied there.
Allahabad was a Congress bastion. Seven of Allahabad’s eight members of Parliament were from the Congress from 1952 to 1984. Janeshwar Mishra won the 1977 Lok Sabha polls from Allahabad on a Janata Party ticket.
The Congress won the seat in 2024 after four decades. Between 1984 and 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the seat four times, Janata Dal twice, and the Jan Morcha and the Samajwadi Party once each.
The number of visitors to Anand Bhavan and adjacent Swaraj Bhavan began declining with the erosion in Congress’s support base. In 1970, Indira Gandhi handed over the sprawling Anand Bhavan to the government, which converted it into a museum.
The Congress lost the Allahabad Lok Sabha seat in a by-poll in 1988 and power in Uttar Pradesh a year later. It was in power at the Centre from 1991 to 1996 and 2004 to 2014, but the party was unable to win it until 2024. The positive response to Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ has raised hopes for the return of Congress’s glory in Prayagraj.
This was not the first time when a Congress event attracted a huge crowd despite the roadblocks the state government allegedly put up. The rally’s design and theme were appealing to Gen Z days after student protests forced Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to step down over examination irregularities.
Prayagraj was once called the Oxford of the East. It drew students from across the country. The students dominated its public space. The style of ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’, akin to a political rock show, resonated. There was dialogue instead of dull speeches. The focus was on youth and their issues.
The BJP sought to embarrass the Gandhis as Rahul Gandhi did not visit his grandfather Feroze Gandhi’s final resting place in a Parsi cemetery in Prayagraj’s Mumfordgang. Feroze Gandhi died in 1960. After his cremation, a part of his ashes was interred at the Prayagraj Parsi cemetery. BJP leaders paid floral tributes to Feroze Gandhi, insisting that they were ensuring its upkeep.
Prayagraj has been on top of the BJP’s agenda ahead of the assembly polls due next year. In 2017, the BJP won 13 of the 22 seats in the Allahabad region. Its ally Apna Dal won three. Bahujan Samaj Party won two and the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress one each. In 2022, the SP won 10 and the BJP eight.
Ahead of the 2027 polls, the question remains whether the crowds will convert into votes for the Congress. Rahul Gandhi has emerged as the face of the Congress and the youth. But he represents one ideology in a polarised society.
In 2022, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the party’s campaign in Chitrakoot adjoining Prayagraj. But the party managed to win just one seat in the 403-member assembly. It disappointed many who demanded Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s entry into electoral politics, as she resembles Indira Gandhi.
Nehru and Indira Gandhi enjoyed a personal bond with the people of Allahabad. Indira Gandhi, as Congress city president, knew the town like the back of her hand. Even after becoming prime minister, she made it a point to stay in touch with the city’s common folk. She once dropped by the city’s Kamla Nehru Hospital and had a half-an-hour meeting with nurses and midwives. The visits of Gandhis over the years became less frequent. Sonia Gandhi last visited in 2016 for Indira Gandhi’s birth centenary celebrations and met the local leaders.
Rahul Gandhi has been in politics for over two decades, but has so far failed to turn around the party’s fortunes in Nehru and Indira Gandhi’s birthplace. ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ in Prayagraj may well turn out to be the head start the Congress needed ahead of the 2027 polls.
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