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Congress plans rallies in six States

NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the popular reaction to the farm debt waiver and debt relief scheme announced in the budget, the Congress has planned a series of rallies in State capitals and district headquarters. It will begin with a massive show of strength on the Ramlila grounds here on March 9.

At the same time, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will meet State-wise all-party MPs from March 3 to 5 in the Parliament House.

In a bid to pull out all stops to cash in on the popular sentiment, Ms. Gandhi’s meetings with MPs will generally carry the message that the momentum and high ground gained by the party on the farmers’ indebtedness issue, should be maintained throughout the year when six States go to the polls, and till the Lok Sabha elections next year.

The States going to the polls this year are the ones where farmers would benefit the most from the Rs.60,000-crore debt waiver scheme. These are Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chaattisgarh, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir.

A senior party leader said that the mood in the party is upbeat and the leadership wants it to be sustained.

Central to Ms. Gandhi’s meetings with MPs would be the message that the programmes launched by the Congress-led UPA government should be “properly explained” to the people. In particular, the Congress would like to take the credit for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and now the farm debt relief issue, the sources explained.

On Monday, Ms. Gandhi will meet MPs from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

On Tuesday, she is to meet MPs from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

On Wednesday, Ms. Gandhi will meet MPs from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Goa, Dadar Haveli, Daman and Diu, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar.

The AICC has planned the rallies keeping in mind the hundreds of Congressmen, women and farmers who want to “thank” the Congress president for the decision on the farmer’s debt relief scheme. Even before the budget announcement came, farmers’ groups were brought in from Haryana and Punjab to “thank” the Congress Chief. It is expected that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will also address the rally on the Ramlila grounds in New Delhi.

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