After the Failure of Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi to Start Bharat Nyay Yatra
After the Failure of Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi to Start Bharat Nyay Yatra
Rahul Gandhi has been hiding behind his Yatras which have no social or political purpose but provide temporary relief to the Congress leader from the impending legal action by ED against him.
By Rakesh Raman
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has decided to lead a long march of 6,200 kilometers from Manipur to Mumbai under the banner Bharat Nyay Yatra (or India Justice March).
The Bharat Nyay Yatra, according to Congress, will take place from January 14 to March 20, 2024 to cover 14 states of India. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had gone on a similar Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra which took place during September 2022 to January 2023.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra was an utter failure, although Congress has been falsely projecting it as a successful event. After Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra – which was supposed to help the dying Congress revive – the party lost almost all elections that happened in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and others.
It is believed that the Congress leader had started the Bharat Jodo Yatra to evade an action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which was at that time questioning Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi in a money laundering case in which they are allegedly involved.
With the aim to evade further ED action – which could include arrest and imprisonment of Rahul Gandhi and / or Sonia Gandhi – Rahul Gandhi cleverly launched the Bharat Jodo Yatra (or Unite India March) in September 2022.
In this Yatra, the Congress leader surrounded himself for five months with a few hundred men and particularly women who were presumably hired by Congress to walk with Rahul Gandhi.
Although Bharat Jodo Yatra was a totally futile event, it provided a shield to Rahul Gandhi as ED won’t arrest him from the crowd because Congress would project it as a Modi government’s onslaught on opposition politicians.
Both Congress leaders were questioned by the ED in the money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper. The probe agency recorded the statements of Congress leaders under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the alleged financial irregularities in their closely held company, Young Indian.
In November 2023, the ED resumed its action in the ongoing money laundering case. Therefore, as it was expected, Rahul Gandhi has again decided to go under the cover of a new Yatra – Bharat Nyay Yatra, so that the ED should not arrest him.
While most Indian politicians in all political parties are corrupt and criminals, they use various tactics to evade law-enforcement action against them. Recently, for example, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal defied ED summons by ostensibly going to a long meditation session out of Delhi.
And Rahul Gandhi has been hiding behind his Yatras which have no social or political purpose but provide temporary relief to the Congress leader from the impending legal action by ED against him.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He has also launched the “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” editorial section to cover the news, events, and other developments related to the 2024 election.
