Yatras have been a medium to generate interest since the time when there was no other way to get noticed. It could be for an issue affecting the general masses or for a devout purpose, our great saints and reformers religiously followed the tradition of yatras.
BJP senior leader L.K. Advani, who has been going on yatras for years, is going a “Rath Yatra” from October 11; Nitish Kumar will criss-cross Bihar for a Seva Yatra whereas Yeddyurappa will go on a yatra in Karnataka. Anna Hazare too will undertake yatra in states that go to polls next year. And baba Ramdev has already begun his 1,00,000-km long yatra.
However, in this time and age when people are just a click away and television has reached our bedrooms, do these yatras hold any relevance?
Author and blogger Arnab Ray, who is known for his sarcastic takes on Indian politics, feels that as a way of political mobilisation, yatras are invaluable. “That yatras or bus-tours remain one of the greatest ways of getting across a political message is attested to by the fact that even today, in the age of social and mass media, US politicians almost always have bus-tours and townhall meetings as integral parts of their presidential campaigns. In India, where the reach of social and mass media is not as pervasive as it is in the US and person-to-person interaction is perhaps valued more culturally, the importance of yatras is even greater,” says Arnab.
When stalwarts travel through the nation’s length and breadth, the idea is to reach out to segments of the population, which can’t be otherwise reached out effectively. Lawyer Arjun Natrajan, 25, says, “I see it as a means to attain the larger end of connecting with the popular sovereign. The yatras bust the myth that awareness, technology and media have reached the nation. There’s nothing as personable as word of mouth.”
However, others feel that gathering crowds creates a hysteria that can make the leader look larger than life. It is being used as a ploy to remain in the spotlight without really toiling like so many social reformers who work silently without ever being known, seen or heard, believes Vikrant Dutta, who is associated with the armed forces.
“Most of the politicians who are doing rallies are desperate to be on the minds of the voters and devoid of any bright ideas or originality, fall back on the tried and tested formula of yatras. Moving in high comfort air-conditioned vans with all facilities is more like an extended picnic,” says Vikrant.
Seconds author Ahmed Faiyaz, “Yatras are being used as tools by old politicians who want to stay relevant and appease to a vote bank. Half the politicians going on these yatras are not clean themselves and the other half are inept and incapable to lead a nation. These yatras are just noise, chaos and waste of people’s time and money.”