Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's ambitious 'Bharat Jodo' yatras, designed as voter outreach initiatives, have proved successful for the party and its allies. The yatras helped the Congress and the INDIA bloc secure 41 seats along the routes.
The first 'Bharat Jodo' Yatra ran from September 2022 to January 2023, starting in Kanyakumari and ending in Kashmir, covering 71 Lok Sabha constituencies. The second, 'Bharat Jodo Nyay' Yatra, began on January 14, 2024, in Manipur's Thoubal district and concluded in Mumbai on March 16, 2024, spanning 6,713 km across 100 Lok Sabha constituencies, 337 assembly segments, and 110 districts.
Notably, the yatras covered more than 20 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) resolved their seat-sharing disagreements and formed an alliance, leading SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to join Gandhi in Agra on February 25. The Congress won three seats, while the SP secured six from the yatra routes.
Despite no victories in Delhi, where the Congress contested two out of five seats during the first yatra (with the AAP contesting the remaining three and the BJP winning all five), the rallies were impactful elsewhere. In Maharashtra, the Congress and its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies won nine seats along the routes.
The second yatra saw notable participation from Maharashtra leaders, including Aaditya Thackeray, KC Venugopal, Nana Patole, and NCP figures like Supriya Sule and Jitendra Awhad. The journey started in violence-hit Manipur and passed through Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland, where the Congress won six seats.
In Bihar, the second yatra covered seven constituencies, with the Congress winning three and its allies two. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress's ally, National Conference (NC), won two out of four seats covered in the first yatra. Karnataka saw the Congress win three out of seven seats, with ally JD(S) winning one.
The Congress achieved notable successes in Punjab (five out of six seats) and Rajasthan (four out of seven seats). In Tamil Nadu, the party and its ally DMK each won one seat out of two covered by the yatra.
However, the Congress faced challenges in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and West Bengal, with mixed results in these states. The party won only one seat in Telangana and failed to secure victories in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. In West Bengal, the Congress won one out of nine seats, with its INDIA bloc ally TMC winning five.
Overall, the BJP won 240 seats in the Lok Sabha election, with the NDA securing a total of 293 seats. The Congress won 99 seats, marking its best performance since 2009, while the INDIA bloc tallied 234 seats.
