Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], April 26 : Noting that the Congress felt "trapped and isolated" some years ago due to new aggressive politics based on the idea "to crush the opposition", party leader Rahul Gandhi has said that there is need to place the idea of "love and affection" to disrupt those "who spread hate".
Addressing the Bharat Summit 2025 here on Saturday, Rahul Gandhi said he went on Bharat Jodo Yatra as "our avenues were compromised and the general atmosphere, did not allow us to operate the way we would like".
Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said that democratic politics has fundamentally changed across the globe.
He spoke of personal transformation during the yatra and said "true antidote to hatred is not confrontation, but connection".
"Democratic Politics has fundamentally changed across the globe. The rules that were applied a decade ago simply don't apply anymore. They cannot face the concentration of capital and modern social media. So in a sense, the old politician is dead, and a new type of politician has to be constructed. What does this new politics look like?" he asked.
"Some years ago, we in the Congress party felt completely trapped and isolated. This new aggressive politics, a politics where the opposition is not talked to, but the idea is to crush them. We found that all our avenues were compromised. The media, the general atmosphere did not allow us to operate the way we would like. So we reach back in our history and we decided to walk from Kanyakumari, which is the southernmost part of our country, all the way to Kashmir. It was not a small walk, it was about 4,000 km," he added.
Rahul Gandhi said he essentially learnt two things from Bharat Jodo yatra.
"Our opposition across the world has a monopoly on anger, fear and hatred, and there is no way that we are ever able to compete with them. They are going to beat us every single time when it comes to anger, fear and hatred. So the question is, where and how do we operate? Where are the spaces where we have the advantage? Where are the spaces from which we can build a counter-narrative?" he asked.
Rahul Gandhi said more and more people joined the yatra after it started from Kanyakumari. He said his job was both walking and listening to people.
"As politicians, we are trained to come up on stage and talk, but while I was walking, the number of people coming to me made it impossible. So I started to listen. And I realised halfway through that I had never listened before. In fact, I didn't know how to listen. The one example that really struck me was when a woman came running towards me and held my hand. I realised the moment that she had some fear. She told me that her husband is beating her, but she wanted to come to the Yatra. I asked her what I could do, and she replied that nothing, she just wanted to let me know that this is happening to her. At that minute, she transmitted to me what millions of women go through in their homes," Rahul Gandhi said.
He emphasised that if there is one thing that the politicians have failed at, it is to listen to what people are telling.
"The second thing that I learnt, even more powerful, was that when it comes to my close people, I am very comfortable using the word love. It struck me during the yatra that I've been in politics since 2004, and I never ever used or expressed love to anybody. I was working hard to help people, but I was not expressing the reason I was working. During the yatra, I started to do this," Rahul said.
He mentioned that after he started using this, something "amazing" began to happen.
"A little girl came to me running and said Uncle, I love you. It was interesting that I had never used this narrative, which is the reason for what I do. So I started. I listened, and then I would use the frame of love and affection, and something amazing started to happen. People started to respond after I started to use this. It has made my life so much easier and made my ability to connect with people so easier that I cannot express," Rahul Gandhi said.
"We used a slogan in the yatra, 'Nafrat ke bazar mein mohabbat ki dukaan'. The slogan gained significant power in India. The idea that no matter how much hatred someone spreads, the biggest and most powerful way to destroy it is to place the idea of love and affection," he emphasised.