In Low Spirits Since Rout, Can Punjab Congress Get Its Act Together Before Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra Reaches State?

After having lost the assembly elections and many of its senior leaders to opposition parties, a faction-riddled Punjab Congress is attempting to turn the state leg of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ into an exercise to resuscitate its directionless and de-motivated cadre.

The state party headquarters in Chandigarh as well as other major cities has been witnessing some activity as the senior leadership finalises the route of the yatra which is expected to hit Punjab next month and move through other cities for more than a week before entering Jammu and Kashmir.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has been holding meetings with the officer bearers to prepare for the yatra, which was launched on September 7 in Kanyakumari and completed 100 days last week. It has traversed eight states — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

“It is a yatra for those youths who are unemployed, against inflation and price rise of essential commodities, and for the brotherhood and amity of all communities, including Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians,” said Warring, indicating that the yatra was also aimed to bolster the spirits of the cadre who, after losing the March assembly poll, found themselves almost inactive.

Though the tour details are yet to be finalised, party sources said the yatra would move via Phagwara, Jalandhar, Pathankot and Madhopur, before entering J&K. They added that the route will cover the politically significant Doaba and Majha regions where Congress faced a drubbing during the assembly polls. “We have already asked all the leaders at the district and city levels to ensure maximum participation to make it a huge success,” said Warring.

Party sources said the state unit had requested for a significant time for the yatra to pass through the state, so as to get more and more workers at the ground level organised. “It has been a while since the party organised some major political event. Though the senior leadership has maintained that the yatra is apolitical, we want to ensure that it helps us galvanise the cadre,” said a leader.

The yatra plans come at a time when the party is also looking at settling differences between warring factions. The meeting of former finance minister Manpreet Badal with ex-Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in Patiala jail a few months before his expected premature release is being seen as one such step. There are indications that Sidhu could be given some important assignment after his release and attempts could be made to patch up differences.

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