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India Opposition’s ‘Unity March’ Against Hate Enters Capital
Saturday - Dec 24, 2022
New Delhi: Members of India’s main opposition Congress party and thousands of supporters walked into the capital on Saturday as part of a 5-month-long cross-country “unity march” seeking to challenge what they say is a “hate-filled” version of the country under the Hindu nationalist government. Joined by thousands of party workers and senior leaders, the march led by Rahul Gandhi, an opposition leader of the Congress party and scion of the influential Gandhi family, entered New Delhi after passing through eight states.
Flanked by his mother, Sonia Gandhi, and sister, Priyanka Gandhi, the 52-year-old leader said that the motive of his long walk across the length of the country is to revive the once-mighty Congress party and showcase the “real India” unlike the “hate-filled version” offered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"They will spread hate. We will spread love,” Gandhi said, referring to Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Gandhi set off for the “Bharat Jodo Yatra,” or “Unite India March,” in Kanyakumari, a coastal town that is the southernmost tip of India, on Sept. 7. The march, which is broadcast live on a website, is expected to traverse 3,570 kilometres (2,218 miles) and cross 12 states before finishing in Indian-controlled Kashmir by February.
Passing through hundreds of villages and towns, the march has attracted farmers worried about rising debt, students complaining about increasing unemployment, civil society members and rights activists who say India's democratic health is in decline. Along the way, Gandhi has also shed his formerly clean-shaven look for a thick beard and slept in shipping container cabins during night halts.
In multiple impassioned speeches during the march, Gandhi has often targeted Modi and his government for doing very little to address the growing economic inequality in India, the rising religious polarization, and the threat posed by China. The armies of India and China are locked in a bitter standoff in the mountainous Ladakh region since 2020. Despite over a dozen rounds of talks at military, political and diplomatic levels, the standoff has protracted.
Modi's party has dismissed Gandhi's march and speeches as a political gimmick to regain his “lost credibility”. “The character of the Congress has been to break India,” the party said in a tweet Saturday.
Hindu nationalism has surged under Modi and his party, which have been criticized over rising hate speech and violence against Muslims in recent years. Opponents say Modi’s silence emboldens right-wing groups and threatens national unity, but his party has denied this.
Even though the Congress party says Gandhi’s cross-country walk is mainly to re-establish an emotional connection with Indians, the march's electoral ambitions are hard to miss. With a national election less than 16 months away, it could determine whether India’s beleaguered opposition can put up a fight against the electoral juggernaut of Modi’s party that won the majority in 2014 and 2019.
Rasheed Kidwai, a political analyst, said Gandhi is “employing some politically correct methods during his long walk that has potential to do some image correction for him.” But he cautioned that only electoral victories will in the end define whether Gandhi’s march is successful. “Modi’s BJP has a success rate of about 90% in over 200 parliamentary seats where it’s in direct contest with the Congress. If this march reduces that rate, that would be quite a success. In a democracy, it is important to be relevant and win elections," Kidwai said.
In 2019, Modi's party won 303 out of 543 parliamentary seats, in part due to its Hindu nationalistic agenda. Congress was a distant second with 52 seats. Since Modi came to power for the first time in 2014, the Congress party has also suffered crushing defeats in a slew of state polls. It currently rules only three out of 28 states. Plagued by leadership crisis and electoral routs, the party in October elected its first non-Gandhi president after 24 years in an attempt shed an image of being run by a single dynasty. The party has been led by non-family members in the past, but Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had been at its helm since 1998.
The march has helped Gandhi, ratings show. In November, polling agency C-Voter said Gandhi’s popularity ratings have seen a slight jump since the march began, from 29% to 31%. The marginal improvement in Gandhi’s popularity, however, remains well below that of Modi’s 66%.
Comments (1)
MdG
Monday - Dec 26, 2022
Good job done by popot Rahul, if that's the only job he ever did in his life.BUT and this is a big BUTT will it = votes??
Don't know and don't think so.
His sister led a high-profile campaign in the UP assembly elections. The end result = 2% votes. MdG adds his 2 paise feedback on what needs to be done, vs what this bro sis are doing
1) Gone are the days, when the symbol hand or lion could bring out faithful, who would come and stamp on the ballot paper, even if a pig was put up. Now the masses and asses, like OBC and minorities have become 'shana buggers' and want to make their own deals. Either vote for parties that suit them or where they get something directly in return. Like money, liquor or the ability to beat up mamu katwas. Look at Congress state in Salcete and RG winning in Catholic-dominated St Andre
2) Biggest and BIGGEST MISTAKE these moronic Gandhi siblings are doing is not doing the hard work or homework OR LEG WORK. WHICH IS PARTY WORKER/BUILDING UP PARTY ORGANISATION FROM SCRATCH AT THE GRASS ROOT LEVEL. Biggest reason Priyanka failed in UP
The biggest advantage of MODI ARE HIS ARMY OF RSS WORKERS, LIKE FANATICS dedicated to pulling in voters. THERE ARE even panna or paper sheet workers, who have one sheet of electoral roll with names of voters they need to contact and bring out to vote. Such is their efficiency and dedication, like the talibuns
3) This is India of 2022-- love ?? what's that? how much will it cost? is there gst on top? no one gives a fk about love or luve or whatever. They want money, power and chicks... just like our average Portuguese passport holder
So unless Rahul shows some viagra luv, like hard cash etc or where people actually benefit, they ain't interested Sarr
A classical example of the above is Babush MonsteRAT TheRAPIST
Anyone knows what the rat's ideology? Is he right or left-wing or centre?
Is he pro-market or socialist or communist? Is he pro-abort or choice or pro-church or anti-lurch or birch?
NAH NOTHING, no one knows even the RAT DOESNT KNOW WHAT HE STANDS FOR, except occasionally bullshitting in some manifesto about removing casinos in 100 days. Something he didn't write because obviously as a 10thstd fail he can't read or write in the first place !!!!
What he knows is that come elections and his army of workers ( PAID MERCENARIES) go around the small assembly constituencies of Tiswadi with the list of voters in one hand and cash/ booze/tv/washing machines and yamahas in the other. That's his simple 420 formula, been working like magic since 2002 and even in the most developed and educated constituency in Goa.
He does spread love, but that is usually paid or drugged type and one sided !!!
Don't know and don't think so.
His sister led a high-profile campaign in the UP assembly elections. The end result = 2% votes. MdG adds his 2 paise feedback on what needs to be done, vs what this bro sis are doing
1) Gone are the days, when the symbol hand or lion could bring out faithful, who would come and stamp on the ballot paper, even if a pig was put up. Now the masses and asses, like OBC and minorities have become 'shana buggers' and want to make their own deals. Either vote for parties that suit them or where they get something directly in return. Like money, liquor or the ability to beat up mamu katwas. Look at Congress state in Salcete and RG winning in Catholic-dominated St Andre
2) Biggest and BIGGEST MISTAKE these moronic Gandhi siblings are doing is not doing the hard work or homework OR LEG WORK. WHICH IS PARTY WORKER/BUILDING UP PARTY ORGANISATION FROM SCRATCH AT THE GRASS ROOT LEVEL. Biggest reason Priyanka failed in UP
The biggest advantage of MODI ARE HIS ARMY OF RSS WORKERS, LIKE FANATICS dedicated to pulling in voters. THERE ARE even panna or paper sheet workers, who have one sheet of electoral roll with names of voters they need to contact and bring out to vote. Such is their efficiency and dedication, like the talibuns
3) This is India of 2022-- love ?? what's that? how much will it cost? is there gst on top? no one gives a fk about love or luve or whatever. They want money, power and chicks... just like our average Portuguese passport holder
So unless Rahul shows some viagra luv, like hard cash etc or where people actually benefit, they ain't interested Sarr
A classical example of the above is Babush MonsteRAT TheRAPIST
Anyone knows what the rat's ideology? Is he right or left-wing or centre?
Is he pro-market or socialist or communist? Is he pro-abort or choice or pro-church or anti-lurch or birch?
NAH NOTHING, no one knows even the RAT DOESNT KNOW WHAT HE STANDS FOR, except occasionally bullshitting in some manifesto about removing casinos in 100 days. Something he didn't write because obviously as a 10thstd fail he can't read or write in the first place !!!!
What he knows is that come elections and his army of workers ( PAID MERCENARIES) go around the small assembly constituencies of Tiswadi with the list of voters in one hand and cash/ booze/tv/washing machines and yamahas in the other. That's his simple 420 formula, been working like magic since 2002 and even in the most developed and educated constituency in Goa.
He does spread love, but that is usually paid or drugged type and one sided !!!