Sreelatha Menon: The politics of yatra

A yatra from Gwalior to Delhi by 50,000 villagers is demanding land for the landless

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Sreelatha Menon New Delhi
Last Updated : Jan 25 2013 | 5:33 AM IST

Politics, one may say, is a yatra. And, a yatra is no less than politics.

Activist P V Rajagopal, who was born in Kerala but has worked all his life in Madhya Pradesh, has become a veteran at yatras. He is about to conclude a third one, leading thousands of poor, barefoot villagers on an all-expense-paid trek.

So far, the yatras have produced little gain for the poor trekkers. Of course, Rajagopal’s standing in civil society has improved and his yatras today even see foreigners’ participation.

This time around, Rajagopal and his colleagues seem confident, as they cross Gwalior, treading towards New Delhi.

“It is wrong to say we have got nothing so far. We got a land reforms commission headed by the Prime Minister himself the last time we walked,” says his associate Mrutyunjay, as he walks past the traffic in Dhaulpur near Gwalior.

What they are demanding is on everyone else’s agenda, too: Land.

“The villagers are landless and want a piece of land to live and to cultivate on,” he says.

Ask him what is the guarantee that these people would get the land, in case the government agrees to distribute it as a pre-poll bonanza, or how many deserving people get ration cards, and Mrutyunjay has no reply.

What about the acres of land amassed during the Bhudan movement? Did it reach any landless? “We are asking the government to use that land, as well,” comes the reply.

Rajagopal’s critics in the civil society say it is a government-sponsored yatra, for it has been happening at the pace the government wants. The latter has been conducting meetings and providing other facilities.

Rajagopal and Rahul Gandhi share a common guru in former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. Critics feel this is all leading to a grand finale where Gandhi would emerge as a hero of the landless. All under the able guidance of Singh.

But, if you agree for a moment that it is Congress-sponsored show, there is activist Govindacharya also backing the rally, citing his old links with Gandhian Subba Rao, known to him and Rajagopal from the days when they worked at the Mahatma Gandhi Seva Ashram in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. This is a Gandhian movement, Govindacharya says.

But, why Gandhian? Did Gandhi want individual parcels of land to be given to people? This unsettles Govindacharya and he says it is only about a piece of land to build their houses on.

The climax of the yatra is already known, say critics. The government would announce a new commission under Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and tweak the Indira Awas Yojana to provide land for the landless, something that has already been under consideration.

Ramesh has been dutifully rushing to meet the procession now and then, offering to even go for its launch in October last year at Kanyakumari. Rajagopal got an audience with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the middle of the coal block allocation scam. He also addressed revenue ministers at a conference last month.

Rajagopal is a nice man, not like the other NGOs (non-governmental organisations). A true Gandhian, who really wants the good of the people, says an official in the rural development ministry.

Rajagopal himself does not make much hue and cry about his demands, unlike activists such as Arvind Kejriwal or Udhaya Kumar. He has not called the media even once on his demands, or flooded them with press releases.

The silence is intriguing, except for the government that went out of its way to throw away foreigners from Kudankulam and cried wolf about foreign-funded protests.

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First Published: Oct 07 2012 | 12:04 AM IST