New Delhi: The Congress and the INDIA alliance gained 41 seats along the route undertaken by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
While the north-south Bharat Jodo Yatra was conducted from October 2022 to January 2023 saw Gandhi undertake a walkathon from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, pitching a message of “jodo” or unity against BJP’s divisive politics and preaching “mohabbat” or love, the second instalment rechristened as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was mostly conducted by bus. The 63-day east-to-west yatra – Gandhi’s second mass outreach in a year was conducted from January to March ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to an analysis by The Indian Express, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, passed through 71 Lok Sabha constituencies, in which the Congress contested 56 seats and won 23 in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In comparison, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had contested 65 of these seats and won 15.
The Congress’ INDIA bloc allies on the other hand contested 14 of these seats and won 6 in this election, while in 2019 they had contested four and won two. The two constituencies of Srinagar (J&K) and Baghpat (Uttar Pradesh) were not contested by any of the INDIA bloc parties in 2019.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covered a total of 82 Lok Sabha constituencies, of which the Congress contested 49 seats and won 17. In comparison, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it contested in 71 constituencies and won 6. Its INDIA bloc allies contested 33 seats and won 18 of these constituencies. In 2019 these allies had contested 10 but did not win any.
State wise impact
A state wise breakup of these seats analysed by the Indian Express report states the Congress and its allies made gains in Maharashtra through both the instalments of the Yatra. Of the six seats covered in the first, the INDIA bloc won four seats in 2024, and of the eight seats covered in the second yatra, the alliance won five.
In Haryana the first yatra covered five seats, of which it won one in 2024.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the Bharat Jodo Yatra covered four seats. The INDIA bloc won two seats in the 2024 elections.
In Karnataka, the Bharat Jodo Yatra covered seven seats, of which the Congress won three in 2024.
In Kerala, the Bharat Jodo Yatra crossed 11 constituencies, where the Congress won 7 and its allies won two.
In Punjab, the Bharat Jodo Yatra crossed six constituencies of which it won five while the AAP won one. Though the Congress and the AAP were part of the INDIA alliance and contested together in Delhi, the two fought separately in Punjab.
In Rajasthan, the Bharat Jodo Yatra crossed five constituencies and won three in 2024. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covered two constituencies and the Congress won one, while its ally won the other.
In Tamil Nadu, the Bharat Jodo Yatra crossed two seats of which one was won by the Congress and the other by its ally DMK.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Bharat Jodo Yatra covered three seats of which one was won by the INDIA bloc (Samajwadi Party) in 2024. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covered 20 constituencies, of which the Congress won 3 and the SP won five.
In Bihar the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covered seven constituencies, of which the Congress won three seats and its allies won two.
In West Bengal, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covered nine seats of which the TMC won five and the Congress one, though there was no state-level INDIA bloc alliance here.
In Assam, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra crossed six seats and the Congress won three seats.
In the north east, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra crossed five constituencies in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland and won three.
The same Yatra also covered seven seats in Jharkhand of which the Congress won one seat and its allies contested won one seat.
No impact states
The report also stated that in Andhra Pradesh where the Bharat Jodo Yatra went through, the Congress did not win the two seats it covered, which it had also lost in 2019. Similarly in Delhi which had also been covered in the Yatra both the Congress and its allies (Aam Aadmi Party) did not win any seats in 2024 as in 2019.
In Himachal Pradesh too the Yatra did not leave any electoral impact in the one seat that the Yatra crossed, which was won by the BJP in 2019 as well. Similarly in Madhya Pradesh the Congress did not make any gains in the seven constituencies covered in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. In Telangana, the Bharat Jodo Yatra covered seven constituencies of which the Congress had won one in 2019 and this remained unchanged in 2024. In Gujarat, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covered five constituencies but did not make any electoral impact. In Odisha the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covered two seats but had no electoral impact for the Congress. In Chhattisgarh, where it touched four seats, the Congress won one seat like it had in 2019.
Read all of The Wire’s reporting on and analysis of the 2024 election results here.
