Bhopal, June 8 : Madhya Pradesh is perhaps the only state where the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi-led two yatras, Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, passed through.

Bharat Jodo Yatra which began from Kanyakumari, entered Madhya Pradesh via neighbouring Maharashtra in the last week of November 2022, just one year before the State Assembly elections slated for November 2023.

On March 2, 2024, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Madhya Pradesh after covering over 650 km (MP leg yatra) distance in span of over one week.

Interestingly, the Lok Sabha elections were announced (on March 16) just a week after, Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra crossed Madhya Pradesh. The state Congress leaders had assumed that the second yatra would have an impact on the Lok Sabha elections.

However, in the context of the Lok Sabha elections, Nyay Yatra's impact in Madhya Pradesh was even worse than Bharat Jodo Yatra, leading to Congress’ humiliating defeat in the state.

Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra had passed through eight Lok Sabha constituencies in the state - Morena, Gwalior, Guna, Rajgarh, Dewas, Ujjain, Dhar, and Ratlam.

The Congress had high expectations that Rahul's yatra would help them to win at least two Lok Sabha seats. The party has relatively performed well in this particular region (Morena, Gwalior, Guna, Rajgarh, Dewas, Ujjain, Dhar, and Ratlam) in the state assembly elections in November last year.

However, Congress lost all these seats, including Rajgarh where heavyweight leader and two-time Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh contested against the BJP veteran and a sitting MP Rodmal Nagar.

Another Congress veteran and ex-MP Kantilal Bhuria, who contested the Lok Sabha election from the Ratlam-Jhabua seat, lost to BJP's Anita Nagar Singh Chouhan.