India opposition’s ‘unity march’ against hate reaches New Delhi

A cross-country march led by Indian opposition chief Rahul Gandhi has reached the capital New Delhi after passing by way of eight states, hoping to regain a number of the recognition it misplaced to the ruling Hindu nationalist get together.

Tens of hundreds of individuals have joined Gandhi’s “Unite India March” in opposition to “hate and division”, which goals to show the Congress get together’s fortunes round after its drubbing by the Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) in two successive nationwide elections.

“Hindu-Muslim hatred is being unfold twenty-four-seven to divert your consideration from actual points,” Gandhi mentioned in his speech on the Mughal-era Purple Fort within the Indian capital.

“They’ll unfold hate. We are going to unfold love,” he mentioned, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.

Hindu nationalism has surged underneath Modi and his get together, which have been criticised over rising hate speech and violence in opposition to Muslims in recent times. Opponents say Modi’s silence emboldens right-wing teams and threatens nationwide unity, however his get together has denied this.

“There are issues concerning the plight of minorities, the shrinking area for dissent, in addition to the federal government’s dealing with of the pandemic and the economic system,” mentioned Al Jazeera’s Pavni Mittal, reporting from New Delhi.

“Analysts say the Congress’s incapability to be an efficient opposition and maintain the federal government accountable has contributed to the BJP’s unprecedented success,” she added.

The Nehru-Gandhi household has managed the Congress get together for many years however has additionally overseen its current decline. The get together presently governs simply three of India’s 28 states.

Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president after the final basic election. The following nationwide polls are due by 2024.

Tormented by a management disaster and sequence of electoral routs, the Congress in October elected Mallikarjun Kharge, its first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, in an try to shed the picture of being run by a single household.

Kharge on Saturday wrote on Twitter the march is “in opposition to the politics of inflation, unemployment, inequality, and hatred”.

“[This] nationwide mass motion has gathered the hopes of crores [millions] of individuals by reaching the throne of energy,” he posted.

The march will take a nine-day break in New Delhi earlier than beginning its last leg on January 3 in direction of Srinagar, the primary metropolis in Indian-administered Kashmir within the north.

‘Reinvigorating’ Congress

The three,570-km (2,218-mile) Unite India march started in September within the coastal city of Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India.

Congress chief Jairam Ramesh advised journalists on Saturday the march – which is broadcast dwell on an internet site – has accomplished practically 3,200km (1,988 miles) to date in 9 states.

Gandhi’s mom and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, his sister and get together chief Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra joined Saturday’s march within the capital.

Sharing an image of himself hugging his mom through the rally, Gandhi tweeted: “The love I’ve obtained from her is what I’m sharing with the nation.”

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan additionally joined the march on Saturday.

Passing by way of a whole lot of villages and cities, the march has attracted farmers anxious about rising debt, college students complaining about growing unemployment, civil society members and rights activists who say India’s democratic well being is in decline.

In a number of impassioned speeches through the march, Gandhi usually focused Modi and his authorities for doing little or no to deal with the rising financial inequality in India, the rising spiritual polarisation, and the risk posed by China.

The armies of India and China are locked in a bitter standoff within the mountainous Ladakh area since 2020. Regardless of over a dozen rounds of talks at army, political and diplomatic ranges, the standoff has protracted.

In the meantime, Modi’s get together has dismissed Gandhi’s march and speeches as a political gimmick to regain his “misplaced credibility”.

“The character of the Congress has been to interrupt India,” the get together mentioned in a tweet on Saturday.

Javed M Ansari, a journalist and political commentator, mentioned the march has succeeded in reinvigorating the Congress Occasion.

“There’s a sure momentum now – a necessary objective so far as the Congress employees are involved,” Ansari advised Al Jazeera.

The recognition of the march has “actually modified Gandhi’s picture” for the higher, he mentioned, including that the problem for his get together now might be to translate the passion within the streets into votes.