It has been more than two decades since Congress has been out of power in Gujarat. The party, which has been facing intense factionalism, is making strong effort to wrest power from BJP, which is being challenged, particularly by a section of the Patidars who have been the backbone of the saffron party in the state. With Narendra Modi as PM and Amit Shah as national BJP president having moved base to Delhi, Congress sees an opportunity in the Assembly elections. The fact that this is the most opportune moment for the Congress to win Gujarat was stated by Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor Ahmed Patel at a public meeting in Anand over a week ago. “If we don’t win this election, we may not win another election again in Gujarat,” he had said. “It is a fight to the finish,” he declared.
Patel, who kept himself confined to Delhi for over a decade, has been visiting the state more frequently in the last few months. A senior party leader said Patel addressing public meetings indicated the party’s seriousness about the 2017 state elections and its quest to keep the factionalism in check.
Congress, which was criticised for its ineffectiveness as an opposition party, has organised a number of programmes and events in the state with a view to “expose” the “failures” of the government. Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, at a public meeting in Mehsana, the hotbed of the Patidar quota agitation, directly attacked PM Modi on the corruption issue.
Congress also demonstrated against demonetisation, organising a “gherao” of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Ahmedabad and demonstrations in front of district collectorates across state. To woo the Patidars, Congress leaders openly supported their agitation and organised a “Daman pratikar rally” against police action on the members of the community in Ahmedabad and Mehsana.
The public raid at liquor and gambling dens by the party’s women’s wing around a year ago had forced police to act, with the then director general of police issuing written orders to district police chiefs to ensure that no liquor dens operated in their area. The raid aimed to highlight the “failure” of the state government in strictly implementing the prohibition laws.
The Congress also held “lok darbars” all over the state, asking people about their problems. To mobilise youth, the party recently announced that it will go for unemployment allowance for educated youths if it came to power. As a part of public mobilisation, the Congress also organised Jan Sampark Yatra, Jan Ashirvad Abhiyan, the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the birth centenary celebrations of former prime minister Indira Gandhi across state.
It is also going to take out “Adivasi Adhikar yatra” from April 2 to 14 to mobilise tribals. State party president Bharatsinh Solanki said, “These programmes are parts of our plan to revive the party and achieve ‘navsarjan’ (revival) of Gujarat. Navsarjan of Gujarat will start when our government is formed.”
Solanki said that it is because of the growing popularity of the party that more than 1,500 leaders and workers have sought tickets for the 2017 Assembly polls. Former state party president Arjun Modhwadia said Congress had secured only 3 per cent less votes than BJP in 2012 Assembly elections when Modi and Shah were both in Gujarat.
Resource: http://indianexpress.com/
Resource: http://grandiose.org.in/
No comments:
Post a Comment