Backstory | Rath yatras: NTR, a pioneer role-model in regional politics

With elections to the 403-strong Uttar Pradesh assembly entering the home stretch,  the Samajwadi Party leader, Akhilesh Yadav, embarked on a brief Rath Yatra signalling the formal launch of his campaign challenging the BJP-government of Yogi Adiyanath.

Polls are due to be held early next year in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh,  a bell-weather state in national politics as its direction assists parties to gauge the mood of the electorate in the Hindi-speaking belt that accounts for a major chunk in the Lok Sabha, with elections due in 2024.

SP under Akhilesh Yadav decided to test political waters now after enduring criticism for being inconspicuous by his absence especially when people of UP like those elsewhere suffered during the brutal second wave of Covid19 last summer.

During his two day sojourn in and around central parts of the state, the former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav focused his attack on the Yogi regime and its failings. It would be interesting to decipher the efficacy of such Yatras for political parties in the run-up to elections.

It was nearly three decades ago the country heard about the unique concept of a political journey by a leader in the making in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh. The person who conceived such travel by road was none other than NT Rama Rao popular as ‘NTR’, a film hero revered by the masses for the number of mythological roles he played on the silver screen.

Realising he had little time to reach out to the people in the state. Rao hit upon this idea of going to the electorate by road after a logistic forced him to undertake such a journey to Hyderabad during the early days. NTR realised that in order to cover small towns and villages in each district he would need to traverse by road and dusty tracks. The crowds were simply waiting for hours through rain or shine to have a glimpse of the reel idol.

An old jalopy -1940 model Chevrolet convertible -- lying in a studio that NTR brought from a famous Tamil cinema matinee idol was the chosen mode.  Summoning his trusted mechanic, NTR put him on the job to convert it complete with a cot, a  chair, a washbasin with mirror, and most importantly a stepladder to climb atop the van where mike and spotlights were fixed for public address.  A bench was added for some leaders to travel and for meetings with space created to carry publicity material.

The ‘Chaitanya Ratham’ (Chariot of Awakening) was a pioneering idea in Indian politics. NTR had begun his travels by road much before but by the time the campaigning came to a close, he logged 35,000 km living in the van and taking rest by the village/town roadside.  Since then the culture of chariot or Rath in campaigning has been replicated across many states.

What NTR demonstrated was that while popularity and mass following gained through his association with films, direct touch with the people whose fortunes he promised to change was necessary. This model of mass contact is now part of the routine of national leaders who engage in Road Shows or its variants during elections.

In Andhra Pradesh alone,  Rath Yatras or Padya Yatras or a combination of the two is now a popular form of political campaign. At a time when N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Telugu Desam Party was in the government till 2004, his Congress challenger Y S Rajasekhara Reddy covered the state on foot, lending a patient ear to hear the woes of the ordinary. While Naidu fashioned himself as the CEO, YSR walked away with the votes of the poor and the marginalised sections. Much later his son, YS Jagan Reddy adopted a hybrid model to once again unseat Chandrababu Naidu in 2019.

During 2005, the Congress under Bhupinder Singh Hooda too got a Rath made for campaigning. This van was modest, barring that the leader was mechanically propelled to the top of the van allowing the leader to address a gathering wherever possible.  Now there are several variants of such vans offering amenities that can range from necessities to comfort and luxury in rare cases.

In Gujarat, during the 2012 elections Chief Minister Narendra Modi came up with multiple vans that would reach remote corners of the state and the people could hear him speak through hi-tech virtual audio-visual campaigns.   This allowed him to reach a larger electorate simultaneously and offered a different experience to the electorate.

The blitzkrieg or otherwise, an essential ingredient for all parties and its leaders is the feedback from the ground which such Yatra offers. What are the people talking about, their problems from the mundane to extraordinary and offer a solution giving the electorate hope. (EoM)