Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s controversial 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ has ended. This yatra covered 23 districts, 1300 kilometres and 67 assembly seats in poll-bound Bihar. While the purpose of this yatra was to gain public support and bolster I.N.D.I. Alliance by peddling the ‘Vote Chori’ (vote theft) bogey, its impact has been the exact opposite.

The Congress party which led this Voter Adhikar Yatra neither managed to win the trust of the people nor could unity be seen within the alliance. The controversy, mutual differences and the indifference of the local people during the yatra made it a topic of discussion. Let us understand every aspect of this yatra in detail.

Voter Adhikar Yatra and its failure

Rahul Gandhi started the Voter Adhikar Yatra from Sasaram, in which RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was with him. Its aim was to make vote theft a big issue and tell the people of Bihar that their voting rights are in danger. In addition, this march’s aim was to demonstrate the unity of I.N.D.I. bloc and make Tejashwi Yadav the face for the post of Chief Minister in Bihar. However, both these goals could not be achieved.

The local people did not pay much attention to this yatra. Talking to Dainik Bhaskar, senior journalist Sanjay Kaushik says, “The biggest loss of the Voter Adhikar Yatra was in the selection of issues. The issue of vote theft could not resonate among the people of Bihar. People consider SIR (Special Electoral Registration) necessary, because they believe that the names of outsiders, infiltrators and dead voters should be removed from the voter list.” Due to this, Rahul Gandhi failed to garner local support.

OpIndia also covered Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Rights Yatra. During this, our team talked to the people. People not only rejected Rahul Gandhi’s visit, but also called Bihar SIR very important. The local people also seemed troubled by the influx and dominance of infiltrators.

The route map of the Yatra was also made keeping in mind the Muslim dominated areas, so that this community could be attracted towards the I.N.D.I. alliance. The Yatra which started from Sasaram, Rohtas passed through Aurangabad, Gaya, Wazirganj, Sheikhpura, Munger, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnia, Supaul, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Bettiah, then Gopalganj, Chhapra, Bhojpur and ended in Patna. But this strategy also did not work. Left parties were included in areas like Ara, but there too they could not gather large crowd.

Rahul Gandhi’s limelight hogging, rift in the alliance and its impact on Tejashwi Yadav’s image

RJD hoped that this yatra would make Tejashwi Yadav the face for the post of Chief Minister in Bihar, however, this did not happen. During the yatra, Rahul Gandhi drew all the attention towards himself, which damaged Tejashwi’s image. Talking to Dainik Bhaskar, senior journalist Nachiketa Narayan says, “Rahul Gandhi exposed the internal bitterness of the alliance by avoiding declaring Tejashwi as the face for the post of Chief Minister.”

In addition, tensions also emerged between RJD and Congress regarding seat sharing. Before the yatra, there was a discussion that Congress will not get even 40 seats in the Mahagathbandhan. But after the yatra, it seems that Congress can get some more seats. Despite this, no significant benefit is seen at the ground level.

Controversies sank the boat of Voter Rights Yatra

Many controversies during the yatra further weakened it. The biggest controversy arose over the participation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. Stalin joined the yatra in Muzaffarpur on 27^th August. But people remembered the old anti-Bihari and anti-Hindu statements of DMK leaders.

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran had called people from Bihar and UP ‘toilet cleaners’, while Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi had called Sanatan Dharma a disease. BJP spokesperson Prabhat Malakar said, “This yatra was a yatra of insult to Bihar and Biharis. Rahul and Tejashwi travelled with people who questioned the DNA of Bihar.”

The second major controversy took place in Darbhanga, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was abused from the stage. Mohammad Rizvi was arrested in this case. The video of this incident went viral and the BJP made it an issue across the country.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said during his Assam visit, “Rahul Gandhi should apologize for the abusive words he used against PM Modi and his late mother.” PM Modi himself also raised this issue in front of the public. In such a situation, this controversy further damaged the credibility of the visit. Even Prime Minister Modi has condemned the abusive language used against his deceased mother and said that she had nothing to do with politics and yet the opposition leader insulted her. PM Modi added that insult to his mother, is insult to all the mothers in India.

Pappu Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar’s role is limited, they remain on the backfoot

Leaders like Pappu Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar were also included in the yatra, but their role was also not untouched by controversies. Pappu Yadav was used in Purnia, but later he was not even given a place on the stage. In Patna, he was seen sitting behind the stage, while he even called Tejashwi Yadav ‘Jananayak’. Kanhaiya Kumar was seen in the yatra in the beginning, but later disappeared.

RJD is still not ready to accept people like Pappu Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar. In such a case, RJD did not accept both of them completely, due to which the gap of mutual distrust in the alliance has widened.

Disappearance of Tejashwi’s issues

RJD was hoping that this yatra would make Tejashwi Yadav the front face of the I.N.D. Alliance in Bihar, but the opposite happened. Rahul Gandhi hogged all the limelight. Due to this, differences also came to the fore between Congress and RJD that Rahul Gandhi dominated Tejashwi Yadav. Due to this, the conclusion of the yatra was changed and the yatra was ended in Patna in a very disappointing atmosphere.

There is a section of people in Bihar who has only read the stories of Jungle Raj, has only heard about that time, they have not lived through Jungle Raj. This class of voters has seen Nitish Kumar in power for 20 years. There was an anti-incumbency factor in this class of voters who did not know about Jungle Raj. This class was also looking towards Tejashwi Yadav as an option out of helplessness. They were looking at him in 2020 and are still looking at him.

This is the reason why Tejashwi Yadav used to talk about education, employment and all constructive issues. But the fake agenda of vote theft imposed by Congress made Tejashwi Yadav lose his issues and chance establish an impression in the minds of voters that he could be their leader. It is clear – Congress’s agenda of vote theft suppressed the issues Tejashwi Yadav could have played on.

Due to all this, the popularity of Tejashwi who was emerging among the new voters with the issues of education and employment also slipped out of the hands of Tejashwi and the Indy alliance. Nachiketa Narayan says, “Congress was successful in putting itself at par with RJD. Apart from this, it did not gain much. The issue of vote theft was rejected by the people. The evidence shown during the yatra either turned out to be wrong or the public did not accept it.”

What did the Indy Coalition get?

The I.N.D.I. Alliance got mixed benefits from the yatra. For the Congress, it was an opportunity to strengthen the organization. Sanjay Kaushik says, “The Congress organization in Bihar was almost finished. This yatra breathed new life into the workers.” But it is not clear how much benefit it will have in terms of votes.

The yatra was not a profitable deal for RJD. Talking to Dainik Bhaskar, senior journalist Manikant Thakur says, “This yatra did not prove to be a profitable deal for RJD. The only benefit it got was to prevent division of Muslim votes. Strategically, it suffered a loss.” However, Nachiketa Narayan believes that the chemistry between Rahul and Tejashwi can make seat sharing and vote transfer easier.

Smaller parties like CPI (ML) gained some benefit from this visit. Party general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya was seen with Rahul for the entire 16 days, which increased the importance of his party.

Has the political atmosphere of Bihar changed?

Out of the 67 assembly seats included in the route of the yatra, NDA had won 39 seats in 2020, while Congress had won only 9 seats. Rahul Gandhi had the challenge of breaking the strength of NDA on these seats, but it could not happen. A big rally was planned at Gandhi Maidan in Patna at the end of the yatra, but due to lack of crowd, it was converted into a roadshow. Rahul Gandhi soon left Bihar.

Lost more, gained less

Overall, the discussion that was there before this yatra that Congress will not get even 40 seats in the Indi alliance has changed after this yatra. Now it seems that Congress might snatch some more seats. However, it has also become clear from this yatra that even if Congress gets some more seats in the Indi alliance, it will not benefit them on the ground. Because despite being in the opposition for years, neither Congress nor RJD has any issue. In such a situation, it does not seem at all that Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Rights Yatra has made any significant difference on the ground.