A cross-country march led by Indian opposition chief Rahul Gandhi has reached the capital New Delhi after passing by eight states, hoping to regain a number of the reputation it misplaced to the ruling Hindu nationalist celebration.

Tens of hundreds of individuals have joined Gandhi’s “Unite India March” in opposition to “hate and division”, which goals to show the Congress celebration’s fortunes round after its drubbing by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in two successive nationwide elections.

“Hindu-Muslim hatred is being spread twenty-four-seven to divert your attention from real issues,” Gandhi mentioned in his speech on the Mughal-era Red Fort within the Indian capital.

“They will spread hate. We will spread love,” he mentioned, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.

Hindu nationalism has surged below Modi and his celebration, which have been criticised over rising hate speech and violence against Muslims lately. Opponents say Modi’s silence emboldens right-wing teams and threatens nationwide unity, however his celebration has denied this.

“There are concerns about the plight of minorities, the shrinking space for dissent, as well as the government’s handling of the pandemic and the economy,” mentioned Al Jazeera’s Pavni Mittal, reporting from New Delhi.

“Analysts say the 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 household has managed the Congress celebration for many years however has additionally overseen its latest decline. The celebration at the moment governs simply three of India’s 28 states.

Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president after the final common election. The subsequent nationwide polls are due by 2024.

Plagued by a management disaster and collection of electoral routs, the Congress in October elected Mallikarjun Kharge, its first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, in an try and shed the picture of being run by a single household.

Kharge on Saturday wrote on Twitter the march is “against the politics of inflation, unemployment, inequality, and hatred”.

“[This] national mass movement has gathered the hopes of crores [millions] of people by reaching the throne of power,” he posted.

The march will take a nine-day break in New Delhi earlier than beginning its ultimate leg on January 3 in the direction of Srinagar, the principle metropolis in Indian-administered Kashmir within the north.

‘Reinvigorating’ Congress

The 3,570-km (2,218-mile) Unite India march began in September within the coastal city of Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India.

Congress chief Jairam Ramesh instructed journalists on Saturday the march – which is broadcast stay on an internet site – has accomplished almost 3,200km (1,988 miles) to this point in 9 states.

Gandhi’s mom and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, his sister and celebration chief Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra joined Saturday’s march within the capital.

Sharing an image of himself hugging his mom through the rally, Gandhi tweeted: “The love I have received from her is what I am sharing with the country.”

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan additionally joined the march on Saturday.

We stroll for an India the place nobody lives in worry, and everybody finds a greater future. pic.twitter.com/ooLG8mA55C

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 24, 2022

Passing by a whole bunch of villages and cities, the march has attracted farmers nervous about rising debt, college students complaining about growing unemployment, civil society members and rights activists who say India’s democratic well being is in decline.

In a number of impassioned speeches through the march, Gandhi typically focused Modi and his authorities for doing little or no to deal with the rising financial inequality in India, the rising non secular polarisation, and the risk posed by China.

The armies of India and China are locked in a bitter standoff within the mountainous Ladakh area since 2020. Despite over a dozen rounds of talks at navy, political and diplomatic ranges, the standoff has protracted.

Meanwhile, Modi’s celebration 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 celebration mentioned in a tweet on Saturday.

Javed M Ansari, a journalist and political commentator, mentioned the march has succeeded in reinvigorating the Congress Party.

“There is a certain momentum now – an essential purpose as far as the Congress workers are concerned,” Ansari instructed Al Jazeera.

The reputation of the march has “certainly changed Gandhi’s image” for the higher, he mentioned, including that the problem for his celebration now will likely be to translate the keenness within the streets into votes.