Also Read: Maharashtra: Several Sena functionaries in Nanded join Shinde faction during CM's visit

During their friendly arguments, the pro-Congress and pro-BJP families tried to put the yatra in their own perspective. They shared a view that the yatra proves that Gandhis are still in command of the Congress. He takes over the party or not in the future, Rahul will be the de-facto in-charge, they said, adding that a non-Gandhi president, if at all the party gets one, will not dare cross the line and remain under Gandhi’s shadow. The Congress loyalist families cursed G-23 (currently fewer) leaders, accusing them of betrayal and sabotage. BJP loyalists said the BJP cannot escape Rahul and his kin. The BJP’s attacks on the Gandhis will escalate as the yatra’s distance between Kanyakumari and Kashmir decreases, they felt. A friendly ended in a draw. Both groups agreed that their respective parties should do whatever it takes to enlarge their footprints. “Let’s see what happens in the elections,” the argument concluded, with the BJP guys sounding more confident than their Congress counterparts.       

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.76%

AAP 43.10%

INC 24.14%

Submit

View All In Poll

Remarkably, some pro-BJP guys I met find their family roots in die-hard Congress loyalist forefathers. I know many such families. The grandsons of then Congress leaders have turned into strong BJP supporters in the past 15 years. There are aberrations in my local neighbourhood.  A young gentleman, whose grandpa, father and uncles were RSS workers, is now a youth Congress leader. The family is vertically split. His family’s old generation still swears by the BJP and RSS. However, such RSS-turned-Congressperson could be few because the election results support this observation. The reason could be the saffron politics of the BJP, notwithstanding the Congress’s acceptance of soft Hindutva in its poll campaign and general approach.

The above account is representative of what could be happening on the ground in terms of a straight fight between the Congress and the BJP; who is gaining and losing, and why. For BJP, it is the organisation that puts it ahead. For Congress, it is also the organisation, a poorly led fossil that has gone back to the Stone Age. Speaking based on the interactions with the people from both sides, Rahul yatra is unlikely to make any significant electoral gains, but it will surely push the sceptic reformist in the Congress to believe, albeit unwillingly that it is only Gandhis who could be the party’s magnet, though not as powerful as they were in the past, when one of them decides to criss-cross the country by foot or by flight. The BJP, the Congress’s prime adversary, knows it even better and would be seen acting accordingly in the days to come.

Dharmendra Jore is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @dharmendrajore
Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com