Two massive “Clean India” marches organised by Rahul Gandhi as voter outreach were successful, with the Congress party and its allies in the Indian Union winning 41 seats along the route.
Gandhi took out the first ‘Bharat Jodh’ march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir through 71 Lok Sabha constituencies between September 2022 and January 2023. The second ‘Bharat Jodh Nyay’ march will begin in Thoubal district of Manipur on January 14, 2024, and end in Mumbai on March 16, 2024. The rally covered a distance of 6,713 km and covered 100 Lok Sabha constituencies, 337 assembly blocks and 110 districts.
Let us see how the Indian National Congress and its allies performed in some key states on the route of the ‘Bharat Jodh Yatra’.
Uttar Pradesh
The “Bharat Jodh” rally passed through over 20 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. This time, the Indian National Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) ended the deadlock over seat allocation in Uttar Pradesh and formed an alliance. Following this, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav also joined Gandhi in the Uttar Pradesh leg of the yatra in Agra on February 25 this year.
While the BJP won three seats from the rally route, the Socialist Party won six.
Delhi
The BJP and its allies also failed to win any seats in Delhi, the first assembly seat of the BJP’s rally. Of the five seats that were passed in the rally, two were contested by the BJP and the remaining three were contested by the BJP. However, the BJP won all five seats.
Maharashtra
The Congress party in the state and its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance won nine seats in the region where the rally was held.
Gandhi was joined at the second ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay’ rally by Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray, veteran BJP leader KC Venugopal, Maharashtra state BJP president Nana Patole, Mumbai party chiefs Bhai Jagtap, Naseem Khan and Vishwajit Kadam, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Supriya Sule and Jitendra Awhad.
Northeastern States
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharatiya Janata Party march across the country began in the key riot-hit state of Manipur on January 14 and passed through 11 constituencies in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. The veteran party won six seats.
Bihar
Rahul Gandhi’s second march passed through Bihar, affecting seven constituencies in the state, of which the BJP won all three seats contested, while its opposition alliance won two.
Haryana
The Indian National Congress won one of the five seats that were passed by the rally, while the BJP won the remaining seat.
Jammu and Kashmir
The Indian National Congress won four seats in its first assembly session in Jammu and Kashmir, of which its ally, the National Conference (NC), won two. The alliance lost the remaining two seats.
Karnataka
The Indian National Congress won seven seats in Karnataka in its first-ever ‘India Jodh’ rally, of which the veteran party won three and its ally, the Janata Party (S), won one.
Kerala
The Indian National Congress won seven seats out of the 11 constituencies it visited through massive rallies.
Madhya Pradesh
The old party failed to win any seat in the state, with the BJP winning all the seats.
Punjab
The Indian National Congress won six seats in Punjab during the Bharat Jodh march, of which five were won by the Indian National Congress and one by the opposition alliance AAP.
Rajasthan
The party held massive rallies in seven constituencies in Rajasthan and won four seats in the state.
Tamil Nadu
The Indian National Congress won one of the two seats in the “Bharat Jodo” march in Tamil Nadu, while its ally the DMK won the other.
Telangana
The Indian National Congress won just one of the seven constituencies it contested in Telangana.
Andhra Pradesh
The Indian National Congress contested two seats in Andhra Pradesh, the state where the first “Pilgrimage to India” was held, but the party failed to win either seat.
Gujarat
The Indian National Congress contested five constituencies in Gujarat but failed to win any of them; all seats were won by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
West Bengal
The Indian National Congress won nine seats in West Bengal during its “Bharat Jodo Nyay” march. Of these, the veteran party managed to win just one seat. However, the Indian Union’s TMC won five seats.
Jharkhand
This old-school party contested four of the seven seats contested in the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bharat Jodo) elections but could only win one of them.
Chhattisgarh
Of the four constituencies covered in the “Bharat Jodo Nyay” march in Chhattisgarh, the Indian National Congress won only one seat.
House of Representatives election results
The BJP, which was seeking a third consecutive term in power and a third consecutive single-party majority, won 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). However, the NDA’s total number of seats was 293. The ruling party is now relying on the support of the NDA alliance to form the central government. Meanwhile, the Congress Party won 99 seats in the general elections, its best showing since 2009, according to the ECI. The opposition alliance, the INDIA Bloc, won 234 seats.
