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Empower tribal, dalit youths: Rahul

CUTTACK: AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that there was no adequate representation of dalit and tribal youth leaders in the Congress in Orissa and therefore he had undertaken a mission to bring the youths from these communities to the forefront.

Speaking briefly to newsmen here after interacting with tribal and dalit delegates, Mr Gandhi said that during his last visit to the State in March this year he had learnt about this leadership crisis. “There is no adequate representation of SC and ST youths in the State Youth Congress,” Mr Gandhi said.

He, however, disagreed that his back-to-back visit to the State had anything to do with the forthcoming elections in the State. “During my three to four years of active politics do I look purely working for electoral politics?” Mr Gandhi shot back when asked about whether his visits to the State were keeping an eye on forthcoming Assembly elections in the State.

When asked about the recent statements made by senior party leader and Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh that the decision-making process in the party had fallen in a bit of disarray and his suggestions that Rahul Gandhi should become Prime Minister, Mr Gandhi refused to make any comments on them. “Mr Arjun Singh is a senior (party) leader and I don’t want to make any comment on his statements,” he said.

To another question as to rate the performance of Ms Mayawati—who completed one year as UP Chief Minister, Mr Gandhi said: “The people of Uttar Pradesh should rate her performance and not I.”

The Congress general secretary earlier in the day interacted with as many as 600 delegates of tribal and dalit youths who had congregated here at two separate venues for a two-day workshop to discus various issues afflicting them. The Adivasi Yuva Netrutwa Nirman Abhiyan was held at JN Indoor stadium while the Dalit Yuva Netrutwa Nirman Abhiyan was held at Stewart School in the city. At least 300 delegates each from both communities drawn from across the State attended the workshops.

It was learnt that Mr Gandhi promised the prospective leaders that he would take adequate steps to redress their grievances and ensure that the tribal and dalit youths get sufficient representations in party affairs. Mr Gandhi also promised that the Youth Congress would have separate cells for women and SC & ST as that of the AICC, said Pradesh Youth Congress general secretary Harish Chandra Behera.

While the dalit delegates discussed their socio-economic and political status vis-À-vis the policies on dalit empowerment, the tribal youths discussed the impact of industrialization on their habit and habitat.

Besides discussions on education, reservation and status of women in their communities, the delegates were more concerned about the leadership crisis.

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