How does an opposition politician seize the initiative in India, an enormous and populous nation with an more and more authoritarian ruling get together and state? Rahul Gandhi has a solution, and it entails a pair of trainers.

Bharat Jodo Yatra, a “journey bringing India together”, is the title of an extended march that Gandhi, a distinguished member of the Indian National Congress get together, has been main from the nation’s southernmost tropical tip to its icy north. He has lined about 1,900 miles (3,000km) to this point, strolling 12-15 miles day-after-day, with a whole bunch of others drawn from his get together, in addition to civil society members and celebrities. Thousands line the route wherever the march passes to catch a glimpse of the well-known politician and to point out assist. Since anybody is allowed to hitch, I made a decision to tag alongside for 2 days.

My journey started as quickly as I alighted at Sawai Madhopur prepare station in Rajasthan. A younger physician, one of many yatris (marchers), had come to city to gather medicines wanted on the camp, however was stranded. As we chatted within the automobile, he mentioned he was deeply nervous concerning the path the nation was taking and needed badly to be a part of one thing constructive. This was the gist of what many different individuals mentioned to me. No lofty ideological statements, however easy motivations similar to: “We can do better than hate.”

Why march? There is the historic resonance – Mahatma Gandhi famously marched towards British rule in 1930; marching is a part of the repertoire of Indian politics. But as Rahul Gandhi has argued, the actual purpose is that the streets are the one enviornment left for India’s opposition. That is, in an India the place the Modi authorities has weaponised the police, courts, tax and different enforcement establishments to hound any critic; the place massive companies compete to hitch the elite ranks of Modi’s billionaire cronies; and the place the mainstream media have grow to be a post-truth foghorn for presidency, marching en masse is the one option to make seen the truth that many disagree with the ruinous path by which the federal government is taking India.

Predictably, the yatra has not been given consideration by a lot of the mainstream media and lots of Indians away from its route, together with within the worldwide diaspora, don’t even know it’s occurring.

Each day started at 6am. In Rajasthan, in December, this meant it was pitch darkish and bitterly chilly. As we huddled in our shawls and jackets, our our bodies warmed with the chants and slogans that started as quickly as we set off. The first main break got here at 10.30am at “camp”: right here, a whole bunch of mattresses, quilts and pillows have been laid out for the yatris to relaxation, with lunch served at an adjoining marquee at 12.

The entire operation was just like the army marketing campaign of a mammoth, non-violent military. The stroll resumed once more about 3pm, ending on the day’s end level marked by a large helium balloon you can spot a kilometre away. Women walked in crisp saris, males in the identical garments day after day – the number of languages, backgrounds and temperaments was mind-boggling. It was a mini-India that gave the impression to be on the march. We all know this India exists, however hardly ever get to expertise it first hand, .

On the second day, I walked alongside Gandhi. As in earlier encounters, I discovered him to be courteous and cerebral, anticipating a forwards and backwards dialog. We debated the usefulness of western political thought in furthering our understanding of Indian politics. It was potential to problem him and disagree in a means you possibly can’t with most Indian politicians – definitely not with Narendra Modi, who refuses to interact even with press conferences. With Modi, Indian residents are given the shock and awe technique of lavish stage-managed occasions. In distinction, the sight of Rahul Gandhi, unkempt beard and trainers, strolling alongside surrounded by extraordinary individuals makes for a compelling political picture.

It is true, nevertheless, that the Congress get together’s failure in recent times to win sufficient elections can also be blamed on Gandhi. He has been accused of being a part-time politician, a reluctant and ineffective president of the get together, dubbed “pappu” (a nickname for a younger, naive boy) by his opponents. (Rahul is the son of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.)

In opposition, the get together organisation had grow to be more and more moribund, its members demoralised. But the yatra, get together staff say, has gone a way in addressing this. It has given the rank and file a way of objective, having organised this monumental roadshow, and means that the “pappu” label now not matches. The Congress lost the Gujarat elections (in Modi’s dwelling state) through the yatra however this didn’t appear to dampen spirits. The arduous work of profitable hearts and minds stays to be achieved.

The final time a yatra caught the creativeness, it was the BJP’s LK Advani’s Rath Yatra atop a modified Toyota SUV within the early Nineteen Nineties. Traversing the nation, the procession left violence in its wake and led finally to the destruction of the Sixteenth-century Babri mosque by Hindu mobs.

The present Indian authorities’s ideology is constructed on its legacy. The yatris I walked with as a substitute held up the picture of another India, one among compassion and solidarity. The query is which path the Indian inhabitants will select to take?