With the aim to marginalise Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party on people’s issues and to take the ruling BJP head-on before the next assembly polls, the Congress under Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would launch a state-wide agitation over farmers’ problems after the Delhi polls.
Sources in the Congress claimed that the party would organise ‘Kisan Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ under the banner ‘Kisan Bachao’ at the village-level every month to highlight farmers’ problems in Uttar Pradesh.
“In the second phase, ‘nukkad sabhas’ will be organised at block level and later, pad yatras’ will be taken out at tehsil and district headquarters,” the sources said.
Priyanka will also address five rallies, to be attended by senior-most leaders of the Congress.
The strategy for the agitation was chalked out during the four-day training camp of state leaders at Bhuemau guest house in Rae Bareli and the programme would be formally announced soon.
When it actualises, this will be the first major movement led by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in UP.
Congress MLC, Deepak Singh said the party would take on the Yogi Adityanath government on issues like stray cattle, payment of cane dues to farmers, non-availability of fertilisers, irregularities in procurement of paddy, no increase in minimum support price of foodgrains and rising cases of farmer suicides in the state, specially in Bundelkhand.
“Congress workers will reach out to farmers and get their problems in writing in a form. These forms will then be handed over to tehsildars/district magistrates and also sent to the state government,” Singh said.
The Congress workers would also distribute leaflets in which farmers’ plight would be compared during the United Progressive Alliance and National Democratic Alliance regimes. The party will also seek loan waiver for farmers, waiver of half of the power bills, cowshed, and watchdog allowance in every village.
Late on Wednesday, Priyanka had taken a dig at Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav by saying that some leaders did not think it prudent to move out of their homes to support the protests against the new citizenship law.
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the families of those who were killed in a road accident in Amethi on Thursday.
The mother-daughter duo, who are on a two day visit to Sonia Gandhi’s constituency Rae Bareli for a training camp organised for party workers, visited Pure Bharetha, Pure Ganesh Lal, Gungwachh and Hathkila villages to express condolences to the bereaved families.
Six persons were killed when a car collided with a fertiliser-laden truck in Baramasi area of Amethi on Jagdishpur-Gauriganj-Pratapgarh national highway late Monday night.
Till recently, Amethi was represented by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and was considered a stronghold of the party and the Gandhi family.
