Year in Review | How did India’s Opposition fare in 2023?

Opposition faced expulsion, mass suspension from Parliament & unsuccessfully tried to oust Modi govt. via no-trust vote in 2023. Rahul Gandhi led Bharat Jodo Yatra, INDIA coalition & no-confidence motion against Modi govt. were significant events.

Heading into an election year, India’s Opposition had an eventful year battling the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2023. Starting strong with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Opposition faced expulsion, mass suspension from Parliament and unsuccessfully tried to oust the Modi government via a no-trust vote. 

Here’s a look at the significant events involving the Opposition this year:

Spearheaded by Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, the Bharat Jodo Yatra travelled across India in a span of 136 days, covering 20 cities. From September 7, 2022 to January 30, 2023 Rahul Gandhi led Congress supporters and leaders, often joined by celebrities and scores of ordinary citizens, walking in protest against the BJP’s ‘politics of hate’, unemployment, inflation, and political over-centralisation.

At a time when Congress was hoping for Rahul Gandhi to take up the party’s mantle once again, the 53-year-old refused to do so, choosing to lead Congress’ mass contact programme. Paying tribute to his late father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at his memorial in Sriperumbudur, Mr. Gandhi vowed to ‘conquer hate with love’, kicking off the yatra in the presence of top Congress leaders like Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, Digvijaya Singh and ally DMK’s chief M.K. Stalin.

The yatra was popular, with thousands joining Mr. Gandhi in various cities where he interacted with the local population. In his speeches he targeted the BJP on various topics — polarisation, favouring capitalists, burdening the poor with price rises in oil and food and not solving the unemployment crisis. Mr. Gandhi’s popularity also rose; a Lokniti survey found that 42.8% of the 7,202 interviewed felt it had helped Congress gain support, while 15.8% said they liked Mr. Gandhi after his yatra. Mr. Gandhi also pipped all other Prime Minister hopefuls in the survey, with 26.8% favouring him over others like Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav, and Amit Shah.

Through the Yatra, Mr. Gandhi remained in the limelight — be it his choice of wearing a mere white T-shirt and Khaki pants in cold weather, his ‘breached security’ in Jammu-Kashmir, or his tirade against RSS, and sometimes, other Opposition parties.

In a bid to once again boost Congress, the Wayanad MP will commence the Bharat Nyay Yatra from Manipur on January 14, travel 6,200 km across 14 States from east to west. The yatra, which will mainly be by bus along with short stints of walking, will end in Mumbai on March 20. Notably, the campaign begins a week before the long-awaited Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir’s inauguration.