For the Congress which had been the dominant force in Assam since Independence till it saw its base eroded over the last eight years, the “people’s response” to its Bharat Jodo Yatra in the state has given the party leadership reason to cheer.
However, political analysts maintained that though the Yatra has given the state’s main Opposition party ‘visibility’, it remains to be seen whether the walkathon will translate into electoral benefits.
The Assam Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra concluded last week at Sadiya in the easternmost point of the state after covering a distance of 835 km in 45 days. Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, maintained that the Yatra has worked as ”motivation for the party workers, especially after electoral defeats”.
”There were workers from western part, like Dhubri, Golapara and Barpeta, who camped in Tinsukia for the final leg of the Yatra at Sadiya,” he said.
“Response from the people has been far better than expected. Some had thought that once the Yatra left the minority-dominated areas, it won’t see mass participation. But people from all castes and community joined us,” Lok Sabha MP Abdul Khaleque told PTI.
Pallavi Deka, a professor of Political Science at the Handique Girls’ College here, felt Yatra has ”charged Congress persons across India”, but remained sceptical on it having any bearing on the party’s poll fortunes.
After having run the state from independence till the mid-1980s, the Assam Movement of 1979-1985 jolted the party and saw the newbie Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) emerging as an alternative to the grand old party. In 1985, the first non-Congress government in the northeastern state was formed.
The Congress, however, managed to return to power in 1991 and after again making way for another AGP-led government in the 1996 state polls, held on to power firmly in Dispur from 2001 to 2014.
The year 2014 marked the dip of poll fortunes for the grand old party as its rising star Himanta Biswa Sarma, along with a number of other Congressmen, joined the BJP and led the saffron party to its first major victory in the hustings in this northeast state.
BJP has since then been in power in the state.
Saikia who is leading a new team in its quest to improve the Congress’s electoral prospects, told PTI, “Our opponents, especially those in power, had questioned the relevance of the Yatra. It was not about strengthening the party, but about bringing to fore the people’s issues and failures of those at the helm of the government. We have succeeded in these.” Khaleque, the Barpeta MP, pointed out, that by attracting people from all walks of life, ”the Yatra has achieved its agenda of connecting with the people”.
However, whether the movement will have a long lasting impact remains doubtful.
“As of now we can only say that other than increased visibility for the party and a boost to Rahul Gandhi’s image, the Yatra has no other direct impact on Assam …,” Prof. Deka said.
