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Congress to focus on Mayawati’s ‘failures’

Gargi Parsai

Sonia, Rahul to address rallies to highlight farmers’ plight

Mayawati

NEW DELHI: Signalling that its honeymoon with the Bahujan Samaj Party is over, the Congress has decided to hold rallies in Uttar Pradesh to highlight the failures of the Mayawati government.

All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi will address the first rally in Jhansi on January 17 to focus on the plight of farmers in the drought-hit Bundelkhand region. Party president Sonia Gandhi will address the last rally of this phase in February after rallies in Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.

Asked whether this meant the Congress — that saw the BSP cut into its votes in some of the States that went to the polls recently including Gujarat — is disenchanted with the BSP, AICC general secretary in charge of U.P. Digvijay Singh said, “We are playing the role of a constructive opposition party.”

“Famine” situation

The party had got a survey done of the Bundelkhand region. The report said that the region was faced with a “famine” situation and required immediate attention and action.

Farmers were in severe distress and this affected the cropping pattern, especially rabi sowing of wheat.

The report will be given to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for action.

PCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi told journalists that in the seven months the Mayawati government had been in power it failed to deliver on the twin planks on which it was voted to power: law and order and corruption. “If [former Chief Minister] Mulayam Singh was bad, Ms. Mayawati is worse. Both are casteist and away from people’s woes. The law and order situation has deteriorated.”

Ms. Joshi was just as critical of the U.P. government’s Taj Expressway and the Rs.30,000-crore Ganga Expressway project that is to be inaugurated on January 15. “There is no clarity on the land that is being acquired and the compensation being given to farmers. Probably the approvals have also not been taken from the Central government. We are trying to get details through the Right to Information route.”

The PCC chief said farmers were in a grave crisis in the Bundelkhand region. Several farmers had died, she said.

She questioned the Rs.28,000-crore package being sought by the U.P. government for Bundelkhand when the funds that already made available under rural development for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Antyodaya Anna Yojna had not been utilised. Moreover the State had not made available any matching grant for this package, she said.

In a bid to rebuild the party in the State, Ms. Gandhi has set up a 31-member Coordination Committee headed by the PCC chief. The State has been divided into zones for better coordination. The focus is on strengthening the organisation.

Ms. Joshi said she had not been given any “road map” by the party president but her agenda was to strengthen the party from grass roots level. “We are not attacking Ms. Mayawati but the policies of the government. We will not compromise on people’s issues.”

The formation of the coordination committee was part of the larger organisational reforms that the party has undertaken to rejuvenate the party on the ground.

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