PR Case Study: Sh. Rahul Gandhi and Bharat Jodo Yatra

Friends, Thank you very much for taking out time from your busy schedule to read my blog(s). Sharing knowledge with you has become my passion now. I feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column.  Today I’m very happy to present 108th Blog PR Case Study: Sh. Rahul Gandhi and Bharat Jodo Yatra" which is based on various news stories published in the media during and after the Yatra. 

Nafrat ke bazaar mein, main mohabbat ki dukan kholne nikla hoon – Sh. Rahul Gandhi

Friends’ Attributes of Mohabbat are AFFECTION, APPRECIATION, CARE, COMMITMENT, COMMUNICATION, DESIRE, EMOTIONS, HONESTY, IMAGINATION, KINDNESS, LOYALITY, MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING, NEED, PASSION, RESPECT, TRUST, TRUTHFULNESS, and respect the opinions of others, not to hate anyone, being loyal and polite to everyone and above all to be a giver. Public Relations is a practice in which all the above attributes plays strategic role in establishing favorable image and strong long- term relationships of an individual or organization with their internal and external publics.

Friends’ although Yatras have become an integral part of the Indian political landscape ever since late Sh. Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March in 1930, their philosophy is deeply inscribed within the social values of this diverse country. This reminds me of Film Gandhi, 1982 epic biographical film produced & directed by Mr. Richard Attenborough.  In one of the scenes of film “GANDHI”, when Mahatma Gandhi ji said - India was an alien country to him - to Gokhale ji, he advised Gandhi ji to go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You’ll see what needs to be said, what we need to hear, and Mahatma Gandhi’s Bharat Yatra began in a third-class compartment of train to know and learn about the diversity and problems in India. Gandhi ji understood that independence can only be brought when masses get involved into independence movement.

Friends, Bharat Jodo Yatra reminds me of many such Yatras that had taken place in India after independence, namely Bharat Yatra by Late Sh. Chandra Shekhar  from Kanyakumari to New Delhi in 1983, Chaitanya Ratham Yatra by Late Sh. N T Rama Rao  (NTR) in 1983,  Sandesh Yatra by Late Sh. Rajiv Gandhi in 1985, Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya by Sh. Lal Krishna Advani in 1990, Ekta Yatra by Sh. Murli Manohar Joshi in 1991, Three Yatras by Sh. Lal Krishna Advani i.e. Jan Sandesh Yatra in 1993, Swarn Jayanti Rath Yatra in 1997, and Bharat Uday Yatra in 2004, Gujarat Gaurav Yatra by Sh. Narendra Modi in 2002, Yatra by Sh. Rajasekhar Reddy in 2003 in Andhra Pradesh, Vastunna Meekosam by Sh. Chandrababu Naidu in 2013, Narmada Parikrama by Sh. Digvijaya Singh in 2017, Praja Sankalpa Yatra by Sh. Jagan Mohan Reddy in 2018 in Andhra Pradesh and latest was Bharat Jodo Yatra by Sh. Rahul Gandhi in 2022-23. 

Friends, sharing few of the headlines that appeared in media related to Bharat Jodo Yatra…..

Aim of Bharat Jodo Yatra is to save liberal, secular ethos of India. – The Indian Express

Bharat Jodo Yatra shows Congress can carry out sustained outreach. – The Week

Has the Bharat Jodo Yatra Achieved What It Set Out to Do? – The Wire

Bharat Jodo Yatra is over. Time to build on synergy of ground energy & politics. – The Print

Can Bharat Jodo Yatra Give a New Lease of Life to Rahul Gandhi? – The Wire

Friends’ Bharat Jodo Yatra was launched by Sh. Rahul Gandhi on 7 September 2022 at Kanyakumari after paying tributes to his Late father Sh. Rajiv Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, and the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. Yatra passed through 12 states and two union territories - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir. Throughout the march, Sh. Rahul Gandhi had addressed 12 public meetings, over 100 corner meetings, 13 press conferences, over 275 planned walking interactions, and more than 100 sitting interactions. After unfurling the tricolor flag at the Srinagar's historic Lal Chowk, which marked the end of 137-day-long foot march covering a total distance of 4080 kms from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, Congress leader Sh. Rahul Gandhi said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra has given an alternative vision of the politics to the country.

From 7^th September 2022 and till 30^th January 2023 Yatra had experienced many highs and lows, and a lot more in between. From the windy shores of Kanyakumari to the snow-covered roads of the Kashmir Valley, through the lashing rains in Karnataka and biting cold in New Delhi, the Bharat Jodo Yatra had seen it all. The aim of this Yatra was to unite India; to come together and strengthen the nation.  Sh. Rahul Gandhi was the front, centre and end of the Yatra.  With his mass contact program, the first of its kind in many decades by the Congress, struck a deep chord with the ubiquitous party workers.

Sh. Rahul Gandhi attracted huge crowds wherever he had gone during Yatra.  His speeches were widely appreciated and acknowledged with great enthusiasm.  Yatra had motivated the INC cadres on the ground. By walking the whole way, from Kanyakumari to Srinagar Sh. Rahul Gandhi had drawn on a very Indian theme: the leader who walks among his people and this is what Sh. Rahul Gandhi that India can relate to. Walking together with people served as a reminder of what public action can achieve. Thousands of common citizens joining the walk, involvement of activists, artists, economists, academics, bureaucrats, judges, writers, sportspersons and civil society movement leaders came as a huge endorsement.

Bharat Jodo Yatra allowed Sh. Rahul Gandhi to be himself and to let the people see that side of him. One, who is prepared to work hard, to slog it out, who can be warm and likeable up close, who is neither malicious nor devious, who is bright and well-read and believes passionately in Indian culture and values.  Yatra used a variety of slogans, poetry, and songs, such as Mile Kadam, Jude Vatan, Mehengai Se Nata Todo, Mil Kar Bharat Jodo, Berozagari Ka Jaal Todo, Bharat Jodo, Nafrat Chhodo, Bharat Jodo and Samvidhan Bachao among others. Yatra was a celebration of India’s unity, her cultural diversity and the incredible fortitude of her people. 

Friends’ success of a Yatra depends on a benchmark that anyone would apply to appraise it. If success would mean that Bharat Jodo Yatra achieved its primary goal of walking the length of the country from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, it has and hence is a success. If success means to compel mainstream media to talk about Sh. Rahul Gandhi, The Congress party and the issues its leaders want to raise, the Bharat Jodo Yatra achieved that too. If the purpose was to go beyond conventional platforms to get the Congress’ voice across to the people directly, the Yatra seems to have achieved that goal as well. If the intent of the Yatra was to change the public perception about Sh. Rahul Gandhi, the Yatra has been able to achieve that to a great extent. By and large Bharat Jodo Yatra was a successful exercise in perception and reputation management for Sh. Rahul Gandhi.

Friends’ there was something positive and proactive about the Yatra that hugely appealed to the people of India. The sea of people walking with Sh. Rahul Gandhi was an evidence of that. The Yatra had received an overwhelming public response in all the states it had passed through. Walking together with people and taking them along was imperative. Walking with the people, Yatra served as a reminder of what public action can achieve for its own sake. The Yatra had captured the popular imagination because the leader was walking among his people and speaking and listening to them. The Yatra had energized both Sh. Rahul Gandhi and the grassroots workers of the congress party from Congress Seva Dal, Indian Youth Congress, NSUI, All India Mahila Congress, INTUC etc.

Throughout the Yatra, Congress party had been releasing videos of Sh. Rahul Gandhi’s interactions with groups of leaders from various sectors of society, and with members of his own party with a view to highlight the dynamic nature of internal discussions and accessibility to the leader. Yatra revived the image of Sh. Rahul Gandhi of a serious, empathetic, and accessible leader.

The Yatra had surprised many of the doubters by drawing huge crowds throughout the route from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Those who had joined the Yatra, or watched it from afar, saw Sh. Rahul Gandhi walking despite blisters and an aching knee, listening to people’s woes, walking by their side, holding their hands, sharing kisses, hugs and chocolates, carrying children in his arms, tying his mother Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s shoelace, and being playful with his younger sister Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

In his final public address of the Yatra at Lal Chowk, Srinagar (Kashmir), Sh. Rahul Gandhi chose to speak of the pain that violence leaves behind with anecdotes from his life. It was in keeping with the congress party’s message of what the Bharat Jodo Yatra attempted to achieve, a movement to unite the country against hatred.

Friends’ every successful PR campaign big or small should have answers to 5Ws i.e. Why, What, When, Where, Who or Whom. In my opinion Bharat Jodo Yatra had answers to all the 5Ws and that’s why the Yatra was a very successful PR campaign more particularly when awakening, arousing and mobilizing people were the underlying factors. Bharat Jodo Yatra had very successfully established Sh. Rahul Gandhi’s statement – Nafrat ke bazaar mein, main mohabbat ki dukan kholne nikla hoon.  

Lots of PR alias Pyaar, Mohabbat, Love

Thank you for reading the blog.

#######