One Take | From ‘Raja of Raghogarh’, Reticent Venugopal to Omnipresent Coterie, Meet Pillars of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra

The ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is done and over with and plans have begun to decide the second leg, which could span the country from east to west.

While some have given a thumbs-up to Rahul Gandhi, others have been cynical of his initiative. As the Congress mulls over the pros and cons of the yatra, this week let’s take a look at those who shaped the journey and were shaped by it — the people in charge of coordination, the changing equations during the yatra and also what the yatra was all about.

Let’s begin with those who were the pillars of the yatra:

The Raja Who Can’t be Ignored

Digvijaya Singh is the man of the match but not always for the right reasons. From shaping the yatra to micro-managing the logistics, the ‘Raja of Raghogarh’ impressed the Gandhi siblings with his stamina during the tough Narmada Yatra. This also happened at a time when Singh seemed to be nowhere in the new scheme of things in a ‘revamped’ Congress.

However, the shrewd politician is not easy to put down. Though many think his chips are down post his surgical strike comment — where he asked the government for proof — he is not one to give up. He tells me with a smile: “I am ready for another walk… Come walk with me.” His surgical strike remark, meanwhile, was his way of telling the top bosses that he cannot be messed with and has a mind of his own. In short, the Madhya Pradesh polls cannot be planned without him.

The Youth Leader Who Calls the Shots

You just have to look at the video released post the yatra and you can see KC Venugopal featuring prominently. It’s true that many Congress leaders from Kerala are unhappy with his clout but the once-youth leader, who braved lathis, has the complete confidence of Rahul Gandhi. Reticent but quietly trying to placate sulking leaders, Venugopal’s power during and post the yatra has grown. It’s clear that Rahul Gandhi’s power centre will be incomplete without KC, as he is called. The yatra has definitely made the road easier for the Kerala leader.

The PR Managers

Taking a leaf out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s style and image makeover, the yatra has shown that Rahul Gandhi is ready to play the same game.

Snazzy videos, emotive songs and poems, gently planting and encouraging stories about Rahul Gandhi’s T-shirt and beard look as well as photos of the pheran-clad Congress leader in the sombre grey background with snowflakes — Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that this was just happenstance.

The optics were meticulously planned and executed. The brief given to the managers was to make Rahul Gandhi look committed and determined and not a ‘Pappu’. Even Rahul Gandhi’s critics in the BJP admit that the yatra has done something for the leader, though not for the party. The managers were a core team — the event management and PR agency Three Monkeys, Rahul Gandhi’s office and close confidantes. The media department was often the last to arrive on the scene to execute the plans.

It was also noticed during the press conferences that the event managers occupied centre stage, deciding the lighting, seating and Rahul Gandhi’s audio output so that his interactions could be promoted separately on social media. And, of course, not to forget the YouTubers being given priority for interviews. The argument was simple — the mainstream media paints him negatively while the YouTube interviews would bring out his ‘fun and nice’ side.

The Coterie is Intact

The more things change, the more they remain the same — this seemed to be yet another takeaway from the yatra. There was never any doubt about the Congress and its coterie. Rahul Gandhi’s closest continues to be sister Priyanka Vadra and she was asked to join the yatra at strategic places to add the zing quotient — like the snow sequence between the siblings. Apart from Priyanka, Rahul Gandhi’s core team was as his side at all times — Manoj Tyagi, KB Byju, Alankar Sawai, Kaushal Vidyarthi and Sachin Rao.

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