As assembly elections in Maharashtra are progressing, the mindset of BJP was expressed clearly by the Maharashtra Deputy CM, previous CM and a top BJP leader, Devendra Fadnavis. In an interview with TOI and in several speeches, he blames the downward performance of the BJP in the 2024 Elections on the Bharat Jodo Yatra. As per him, the BJP failed to counter the narrative set by the Yatra. This led to the decline of BJP MP Seats from (2019) 23 to 9 (2024). In this context, he approached various organisations (30) affiliated with RSS to set the counter-narrative. He also revealed an open secret: when in trouble, he consults his parent organisation, RSS, to brighten the electoral prospects of the BJP.

The first Yatra, the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra,' started on September 7, 2022, from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, in the south and made its way up north, concluding in Srinagar, J&K, in January 2023. It covered 4,080 km across 12 states. The second one, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, travelled east to west. It started on January 14 from Thoubal in Manipur, covering 6,713 km through 15 states before culminating in Mumbai on March 16.

As per Fadnavis, now Rahul Gandhi is surrounded by Urban Naxals and Ultra left elements, and he is less of a congressman and more of an ultra-left ideologue! Right-wing Hindu nationalists, true to their Guru MS Golwalkar's formulation ("Muslims, Christians and Communists are the internal threats to the Hindu Nation," Bunch of Thoughts), Fadnavis and his ilk will label anything against the agenda of Hindu Rashtra (nation) as either pampering Muslims or Christians or Urban-Naxals or Ultra-left today. Urban Naxal is a word that has been adopted by the government for all anti-establishment protestors. Ultra-left is again a government-adopted word for human rights activists working for the deprived sections of society.

Why was Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) conceived and removed? Clearly, the then 8-9-year-old Modi Government's rule had stifled the voices being raised to protect values inherent in the Indian Constitution. It was the culmination of the social discomfort due to Government policies directed against the citizenship rights of Muslims and against the worsening plight of ordinary people. It was conceived to unite India along what Mahatma Gandhi did while leading the anti-colonial movement.

What was the agenda of the BJY? As evident from the title, its aim was to instil a sense of oneness amongst Indians, irrespective of their caste, colour, religion and gender? It was airing the demands for most disadvantaged sections of social groups' rights through various slogans, including the one demanding caste census. The response to this Yatra was magical; people from most strata of life joined it or saw its spectacle from the sidelines. They perceived that long years of divisive politics and implementing policies favouring the rich and affluent were harming the unity of the country and the plight of ordinary people. They perceived that this event would restore the situation in a better direction.

This Yatra stood in stark contrast to the Yatra taken out by Fadnavis' peer, Lal Krishna Advani. That Advani Yatra was on an emotive issue around a make-believe notion of a Hindu temple having been destroyed centuries ago by a Muslim king. Advanis' Yatra saw the bloodshed all the way on its route. Later, when its fall out, the Babri demolition took place, much more violence was witnessed, and hate against Muslims got further entrenched in the society. That Yatra, which Fadnavis welcomed with glee, led to the upswing and strength of the communal party.

The BJY was a total contrast. There was no emotive issue. It kept the Indian Constitution at the centre and united the Indians on their identity. Fadanvis is more concerned about the book's red cover (Constitution) because the book's contents don't matter to him. He also forgot that the Supreme Leader Narendra Modi presented this red-cover edition of the Constitution to Ram Nath Kovind.

There was apprehension during BJY whether the visible support for the Yatra would change the electoral equations. Not entirely, but in part, the Yatra dented the then-prevailing electoral dominance of communal parties. To its great credit, the statement that BJY is impacting the Maharashtra election coming from the Horse's (Fadnavis) mouth validates its impact on electoral politics.

So far, the dominant discourse has been prevalent Hindu Right-wing nationalism. BJY has partly combated that, but more needs to be done. Challenging the divisive communal discourse, which has been leading to hate, fear, and ghettoisation of minorities, is partly challenged, but a lot more needs to be done in this direction. The Mahatma's powerful message of unity cutting across religion is what the BJY tried to and has to take further.

Another supervention of the Yatra was laying the foundations of social platforms like Bharat Jodo Abhiyan and Eddelu Karnataka. These have the potential to boost the values of the Indian Constitution. These groups working for the 'rights' of diverse, deprived, and 'less equal' sections of society have been coming together as collectives where they can assist each other in preserving the values of the Indian Constitution. These groups are diverse, dedicated, and committed to equal rights. The concept of rights for all is very troublesome for the right wing. Their agenda has a neat division between 'rights and duties.' For them, the affluent have all the rights, and the deprived have all the duties.

This is akin to the feudal kingdom systems, in which kings, landlords, and priests were endowed with all the rights and lower sections, including women, had all the duties. The distribution of wealth was also similar.

Thanks to Fadnavis, we know clearly that the BJP suffered a setback due to BJY. Thanks again to Fadnavis, the inextricable ties between the RSS (which are not in electoral politics) and its progeny, the BJP, and its front on the electoral chess board are made evident for all. It was known, but coming from the BJP leader himself, there should be no doubt about it now!