NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday started a new nationwide march from a troubled northeastern state, aiming to generate political momentum to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in polls due by May.
The march came weeks after Gandhi’s Congress party suffered shock defeats in polls in three states, puncturing the mood of the opposition, which intended to challenge Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Gandhi walked for 3,500 km from the southern tip of India to Kashmir in the north, ending a 135-day march in January 2023 in a move to help revive the Congress and his popularity.
The latest march, setting off from remote northeastern Manipur state, will cover 6,713 kilometers over 66 days, passing through fifteen states, with some of the journey via car.
Rahul Gandhi Decides to Start March in Manipur
Gandhi decided to start a march in Manipur, a state that had witnessed fierce fighting since last year.
At least 180 people have died, and thousands were displaced in clashes that started after a court order suggested privileges granted to minority Kukis also be extended to the majority Meitei community.
Gandhi said that he was determined that the march should start in Manipur as he understands the pain, hurt, loss, and sadness the state’s residents have been through.
Congress ahead of the march said it is not a political campaign, but the list of concerns that will be spotlighted during the march — poverty, democracy, unemployment, and diversity and the BJP’s “politics of hatred and violence” — are key election problems for the opposition.
Opposition groups led by Congress last year formed a 28-party alliance called INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) to jointly fight the BJP in polls, but it has been riven by differences over giving up seats to field a common candidate against the BJP.
