A nationwide march led by Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has reached the capital, New Delhi, after crossing eight states in the hope of regaining some of the popularity he lost to the ruling Hindu Nationalist Party.
Tens of thousands of people have joined Gandhi’s “Unite India March” against “hate and division,” which aims to change the Congress Party’s fate after it was pressured by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in two consecutive national elections.
“Hatred between Hindus and Muslims is spread around the clock to distract your attention from the real issues,” Gandhi said in his speech at the Mughal-era Red Fort in the Indian capital.
“They will spread hate. We will spread love,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.
Hindu nationalism has risen sharply under Modi and his party, which have been criticised in recent years for increasing hate speech and violence against Muslims. Opponents say Modi’s silence encourages right-wing groups and threatens national unity, but his party has denied this.
“There are concerns about the plight of minorities, the shrinking room for dissent, and the government’s handling of the pandemic and the economy,” said Pavni Mittal of CNN Breaking News, who reported from New Delhi.
“Analysts say Congress’s inability to be an effective opposition and hold the government accountable has contributed to the BJP’s unprecedented success,” she added.
The Nehru-Gandhi family has controlled the Congress Party for decades, but has also overseen its recent decline. The party currently governs only three of India’s 28 states.
Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress President after the last general elections. The next national surveys are due by 2024.
The Congress, plagued by a leadership crisis and a series of election campaigns, elected Mallikarjun Kharge, its first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, in October, trying to lose the impression that it was run by a single family.
Kharge wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the march was directed “against the policies of inflation, unemployment, inequality and hate.”
“[This] national mass movement has raised the hopes of hundreds [millions of] people by achieving the throne of power,” he wrote.
The march will take a nine-day break in New Delhi before starting its final stage on January 3 towards Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir in the north.
“Revival” of Congress
Unite India’s 3,570 km (2,218 miles) long march began in September in the coastal town of Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told journalists on Saturday that the march, which is broadcast live on a website, has covered almost 3,200 km (1,988 miles) in nine states so far.
Gandhi’s mother and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, his sister and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra took part in the march in the capital on Saturday.
Gandhi shared a picture of himself hugging his mother during the rally and tweeted: “I share the love I received from her with the country.”
Actor turned politician Kamal Haasan also took part in the demonstration on Saturday.
We are committed to an India where no one lives in fear and everyone finds a better future. pic.twitter.com/oOLg8mA55c
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 24, 2022
The march, which crossed hundreds of villages and towns, attracted farmers who are worried about rising debt, students who complained about rising unemployment, members of civil society and right wing activists who say India’s democratic state is declining.
In several impassioned speeches during the march, Gandhi often targeted Modi and his government for doing very little to counter growing economic inequality in India, increasing religious polarization, and the threat posed by China.
The armies of India and China have been in a bitter stalemate in the mountainous Ladakh region since 2020. Despite over a dozen rounds of talks on the military, political and diplomatic levels, the stalemate has dragged on.
In the meantime, Modi’s party has dismissed Gandhi’s march and speeches as political gimmicks to regain his “lost credibility.”
“The character of the Congress was to destroy India,” the party said in a tweet on Saturday.
Javed M Ansari, journalist and political commentator, said the march had revived the Congress Party.
“There is some momentum now—a key goal for congressional staff,” Ansari told CNN Breaking News.
The march’s popularity has “certainly changed Gandhi’s image for the better,” he said, adding that the challenge for his party will now be to turn the enthusiasm on the streets into votes.