the people’s election — 2024

there is growing chatter from some quarters that this is now a people’s election — the slant though is designed to some how bring down the stellar efforts of the Congress and in particular Rahul Gandhi. My thoughts on the same.

It started with the Bharat Jodo Yatra — all said and done, the greatest mass contact program post our independence. It’s genius lay in its simplicity — here was a person willing to walk many a mile simply to listen to fellow citizens and to share their burdens.

It was the Yatra which provided an outlet for millions to voice out their concerns about the future, to unburden their woes to a person willing to listen; who was there with abundant empathy and compassion. And boy, did they turn up; did they respond.

All these inputs from that multitude of voices provided the Congress with the real issues of the citizens. People were saying that a vast majority of them were not beguiled by fake promises and that they have seen past the divisions being perpetuated in the name of religion.

All this went into that brilliant document — The Congress manifesto. It represents the voice of the people of India. Multiple attempts to discredit it have only spurred more people to download it and take a look.

The messaging around it has been spot on. It is something that people have started to believe in. It encompasses our hopes, our aspiration and our determination to embrace a way of life that generations after us will be proud of.

The manifesto is now the fulcrum of these elections. Of the people, by the people and for the people. So yeah, it is a people’s election. They are responding with hope and trust. A lot has been done to make it happen.

Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, deserve every bit of credit due here. 4th June — here come the people as they march resolutely towards an era of justice and prosperity for all.