I had said here on September 12 that Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra would surely push the sceptical reformist in the Congress to believe, albeit unwillingly, that it is only Gandhis who could be the party’s magnet when one of them decides to criss-cross the country. As it completed its 75 days during the Maharashtra leg and headed towards Madhya Pradesh, the Yatra has infused a new blood in the Maharashtra Congress organisation, so much so that it has refused to be taken for granted, as was being done in the past three years in Maharashtra. The crowds Rahul Gandhi attracted during the yatra and rallies in Nanded and Shegaon were beyond the state leaders’ expectations, thus making them believe that the people have not disowned the Gandhi dynasty. Hindutva was writ large in Rahul’s speeches, so was anti-BJP government tirade. The yatra has made the Congress share bullish in the coalition politics of Maharashtra.

It is not only the people within the Congress who have been boosted. Rahul critics, political (non-BJP) and apolitical (activists, political commentators etc), who had written elegies to the ‘dying’ Congress and blamed the party’s deterioration on the former party president, have turned into his balladeers. Rahul entertained all, elite and non-elite, who were cleared to reach out to him in the high-security circle. But his grazing eyes ensured that he invited those who didn’t have a party pass, a sacrosanct document, so that the fringe elements could walk with him, interact with him, kiss and hug him. It all happened even as the generation next of the Congress leaders competed with each other to boast about how long Rahul walked them hand-in-hand. It was a good political exercise executed by Rahul who was accused of remaining incommunicado and unavailable by the party leaders. Halfway through the yatra, thousands of one-on-one meetings have happened and been photographed. In normal course, a lifetime would be short to meet the number of people Rahul has met so far (and will be meeting till Srinagar) and created memories with. Leaders, their sons, daughters as well as mentor-less young workers had a picture with Rahul that will bolster their image in the poll campaign or otherwise. We have not counted indoor meetings with civil activists, think tanks and special invitees. I’m told the Rahul Brigade has been preparing for the next phase of yatra—between the east and west of the country, to be held next year.