‘BJP makes noise, but has no courage to change Constitution’
very day that the yatra opened on January 14 from Thoubal in Manipur, Congress leader in Mumbai Milind Deora ended his family’s 55yearold ties with the party to join the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena.
The yatra and especially its timing was sharply criticised by the INDIA bloc allies, who saw it as a sign of the Congress’s indifference towards building a joint campaign for the antiBJP coalition. Just a day ahead of the yatra’s entry to West Bengal, Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee announced her decision to not cede any seats to the Congress in her State. Ahead of its entry in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar severed ties and returned to the BJPled National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Within the party too, there has been criti
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh addressing the media at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday.
cism that the Congress took its eye off the 2024 campaign and the party’s entire machinery was geared towards the yatra alone.
Intermingling of cadres
But the Congress rejects the criticism that the yatra has been a wrecking ball. “The yatra saw an organic intermingling of the party cadres everywhere it went,” Congress General
Secretary Jairam Ramesh said. He cited the examples of huge presence of Samajwadi Party’s (red caps) at Malegaon and Thane in Maharashtra and in parts of western Uttar Pradesh, to significant participation from the Left cadres in West Bengal. But the most significant achievement of the yatra, Mr. Ramesh underlined was that it provided a platform for the voices from the ground to be heard. “The yatra provided the structure to conceive the five nyays and the 25 guarantees, and it also gave an opportunity to communicate this,” he said.
Unlike the usual practice of announcing the manifesto from Delhi headquarters, these promises were made at various stops. The Kisan Nyay ( justice for farmers that includes providing legal backing for Minimum Support Price) was unveiled at Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh; Hissedari Nyay (equal share in governance that includes the promise of caste census) at Ranchi; Yuva Nyay (justice for youth that include the mandatory internship commitment) at Banswara in Rajasthan; Naari Nyay (justice for women that includes promise like ₹1 lakh per annum to women) at
Dhule in Maharashtra and Shramik Nyay (justice for workers that includes urban version of MGNREGA) at Dharavi in Mumbai.
“These are the guarantees by the Congress party and not by a single person,” Mr. Ramesh remarked in an obvious jibe at the Prime Minister who has been claiming to provide “Modi ki Guarantee”.
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covered 106 districts after travelling a distance of 6,300 km. The earlier Bharat Jodo Yatra had travelled to 76 districts over 140 days. Mr. Ramesh said that concluding the Nyay Yatra at Chaityabhoomi, Mumbai, the memorial of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the befitting tribute to the architect of the Constitution of India, particularly at a time when demands are being raised to change the Constitution.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of lacking the courage to amend the Constitution, despite “making noise” about it.
Addressing a gathering in Mumbai after leading the Nyay Sankalp Padayatra from Mani Bhavan to August Kranti Maidan, he asserted that the truth and the support of the people were on his side.
The Wayanad MP’s statement comes in response to recent remarks by BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde, who stated that his party required a twothirds majority in both Houses of Parliament to rectify what he termed as unnecessary additions made to the Constitution by the Congress.
Rahul Gandhi
“The BJP makes a lot of noise, but it does not have enough courage to change the Constitution. Truth and the people’s support are on our side,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi said that the ongoing battle went beyond political affiliations, portraying it as a clash of ideologies between the centralisation of power and decentralisation, with an emphasis on amplifying the voices of the people.