Society & Culture
Padyatra which translates to ‘journey by foot' has been used as an agent of social change by religious and social reformers from ancient times. Even politicians have used it to gain political mileage, the most impactful one being the Salt March undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi against the British tax regime. Currently, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is on a padyatra from South to North India called the Bharat Jodo Yatra which he says is to unite the nation divided by the divisive policies of the BJP government. But are padyatras relevant in an age where even those residing in villages have access to mobile networks and television reaches every corner of the country? Will Rahul Gandhi be able to convert the crowd into votes and will it impact the next elections? To discuss these questions, we have veteran politician Sudhindra Bhadoria of the Bahujan Samaj Party who played an essential role in the Bharat Yatra of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekar in 1983. Also joining the podcast is Shantanu Gupta, founder of Yuva Foundation. He is author and biographer of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.