Functionality or political message? Rahul’s beard in Bharat Jodo Yatra a matter of debate

Rahul's beard during Bharat Jodo Yatra has become an interesting aside, generating interest on social media, and from parties on what would otherwise have been a non-issue.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, J.P. Aggarwal, and Sonia Gandhi during the party's 138th Foundation Day celebrations at AICC office in New Delhi | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

ISHADRITA LAHIRI. The Print, 2 January, 2023, New Delhi: Amid raging debates over Bharat Jodo Yatra’s stated objective to end the politics of hate and fear, Rahul Gandhi’s flowing, ever-growing beard has become an interesting aside, generating a lot of interest. It’s not just the Twitterati who are commenting on it, but serious politicians have also jumped into what would otherwise be a non-issue in a highly charged political discourse.  

Last month, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Gandhi’s beard resembled that of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. This week, union minister Ramdas Athawale said just because Gandhi is growing his beard, doesn’t mean that the Congress will be successful in increasing the party’s seats (in the Lok Sabha). A viral photo comparing Gandhi’s beard to that of Karl Marx was also doing the rounds a while back.

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‘Desh badalne aaye hain’

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh sought to dismiss these debates, saying, “Hum vesh nahi, desh badalne aaye hain.” 

Image guru Dilip Cherian has a different take though. “This is a bit of a Forrest Gump approach. He’s probably appealing to this whole concept of being a mendicant wandering through India,” Cherian told ThePrint light-heartedly.

On a more serious note, Cherian says there is a certain logic behind this new look. “People who’ve been a part of the yatra have told me that nowadays, even a patwari’s son comes to meet people on a jeep. But Rahul is walking. So, the whole persona of the ‘walking fakir’ that is being created is distinctly befitting the bearded look,” he said.

He adds that in the past, some “naughty” people have tried to insinuate that every time  grows a beard, he flies abroad. “He’s refuting that in a hirsute manner,” Cherian said.

If Congress leaders are to be believed, however, the beard – unkempt and proudly displaying the greys –  is pure functionality.

“To shave your beard regularly during the (Bharat Jodo) Yatra, one would need to wake up at 3.30am. Mr Gandhi wakes up at around 5am. He doesn’t have the time to do all that because our activities for the day begin at 5.30am,” said a senior Congress leader.

It is interesting to note, however, that at a press conference at the Congress headquarters in Delhi on 31 December, Gandhi had his beard intact. The yatra was, at the time, on a break for nearly a week.

Yatris follow their leader

Ask people less senior and their guess seems more accurate. “He might just be lazy! Who wants to wake up half an hour early to shave when you’re walking 25 kms a day?” a yatri said to ThePrint.

In fact, probably following in Gandhi’s footsteps, many of the yatris seem to be growing facial hair as the yatra has progressed. One of them is youth leader and former JNUSU president, Kanhaiya Kumar.

He referenced the beard to make a political quip at a press conference in Nuh, Haryana, on the sidelines of the yatra.

“Just because our beards have grown doesn’t mean we’ll take sanyas from elections,” said Kumar, when asked if the Congress was looking to win elections or if the yatra was only about ‘tapasya’.

Later, when ThePrint tried to prod him a little more about the beard, he said he’d answer only “political questions”.

When asked if Gandhi’s beard was similar to Prime Minister Modi’s à la the 2021 Bengal elections, the answer was a firm no.

Not the first time

This is not the first time, however, that Gandhi’s beard has been a matter of public discussion. As a senior Congress leader says, he’s always had a “love-hate” relationship with his beard. Political observers from UPA talk about how he’d be seen clean-shaven at the beginning of the Parliament sessions and grow a stubble as the session wrapped up. A light-hearted gossip at the time was that it was to avoid recognition if he took a commercial flight to one of his trips abroad during the break between sessions. It is such talk that Cherian was referencing above.

The beard has also been a part of Gandhi’s most memorable political interventions in the past. In Niyamgiri (2010), when he had protested against land acquisition by the Vedanta group for mining activities, his stubble was noticed by all.

When he sneaked into the UP village of Bhatta Parsaul in 2011 to protest against police firing on agitating farmers, he was clean-shaven. The political dividends that the Congress reaped from both outings is still being debated but form an important chapter in Gandhi’s political life. Recently, in a video released by the party, he said, in a chat during the yatra, that the mainstream media stopped being in his favour after these two episodes.

Mixed reaction on ground

Congress workers attending the yatra, however, have varied views on their leader’s look.

Nitin Ganpat, with the Congress’s hand symbol shaved on his head, is quite a fashionista himself. A resident of Kolhapur, Maharashtra, Ganpat has been following the yatra on a cycle, only to get a selfie with Gandhi, he says. But when asked about the leader’s bearded look, he sports a shy smile and says the Gandhi scion should have shaved it off.

“Accha nahi lag raha,” he quipped, when ThePrint met him in Haryana.

Politically, this may be the one of the few things that a Congress and BJP worker agree on. Sukhbir Maderna, a BJP worker who was at the yatra venue in Faridabad in his capacity as a sarpanch, said he didn’t like Gandhi’s beard either. Standing next to him  was Chandrahans Bhadana, a resident of the same village and a friend, but a Congress worker.

“He has been on yatra for over 100 days. Naayi nahi mila hoga shayad unko. But I don’t like it,” laughed Bhadana.

Whether it’s because of paucity of time during the yatra, functionality, or a deliberate change in look to deliver a political statement may become clearer on 3 January – if not earlier – when the Bharat Jodo Yatra resumes after a 9-day break.

(Edited by Smriti Sinha)