While a debate rages within the Congress on whether to
pursue party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's move to push for internal democracy
or stay with the good old "consensus" system, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
upped the ante on Friday and said the main problem with party leaders is that
they are not aware of the expectations of the masses.
"We don't try to know what people expect from us. What
can we do if we don't understand their needs? Now is the time for us to mix
with the masses and struggle for them. Let me know if there is any shortcoming
in me. Let the party realise if it is lacking somewhere," she said at a
meeting of Congress leaders in Rae Bareli on Friday.
It was the second day of
her two-day visit to her mother and party president Sonia Gandhi's
Parliamentary constituency. Incidentally, this was also Priyanka's first visit
after the Congress' debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Amidst the gloom
and doom post defeat, a sizeable section of Congress workers had clamoured for
Priyanka, but the charismatic Gandhi has stayed away from active politics so
far.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Priyanka had taken on Narendra Modi
after he had described Rahul as a "namuna" (an odd or clownish character).
She had retorted that those who aspired to be prime minister should be
dignified, not childish. On another occasion when Modi had said Priyanka was
like his daughter, the latter had said: "I am Rajiv Gandhi's
daughter." After that, Priyanka had chosen to stay away from public glare.
Satyagraha
Priyanka asked Congressmen to oppose the new land ordinance
of the Centre. "It is not in favour of the peasants. The government may
acquire land of farmers without their consent. I am gearing up to struggle for
them on this issue. But I also want you to do it on a larger scale," she
said.
On Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Dhirendra
Singh had organised a huge protest in Noida's Bhatta Parsaul village against
the ordinance. Former Union minister Jairam Ramesh had participated in it on
the direction of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Priyanka alleged that the ordinance has taken away the
provision of acquiring land only after a farmer's consent under the Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, enacted by the Congress-led
United Progressive Alliance government.
Interestingly, she also asked partymen to use social media
to make people aware of welfare programmes and acts which were introduced by
the erstwhile UPA government.
"Use the social media extensively to tell the people
about the benefits of Right to Education, Right to Information and Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Explain to them through social
media why these programmes were strengthening the democratic process in the
country. But social media should also be used to tell the people why the
schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is like any other bank
account", she said in reply to an observation from a party worker that
while the BJP has several magazines, newspapers and news agencies to popularise
the achievements of the Modi government, the Congress has none.
"She told us that social media is emerging as a
powerful medium of communication. It is within our reach and so we shouldn't
shy away from publicising our achievements and criticising the works of the
National Democratic Alliance government," Jirendra Singh, president of
farmers' cell of the Congress in Rae Bareli told Mail Today.
Shailja Singh, a block-level Congress leader, said,
"What we understood from Priyanka's visit is that she is preparing to be a
part of any movement that we raise for the people."
She said the Gandhi scion asked the party's women leaders to
reach out if an ordinary citizen was harassed by goons or the police. "She
asked us to protest in front of police stations in such cases. When we told her
that the police was insensitive about people's problems, she said she would
personally reach the spot to participate in the protest if the cops didn't
listen to us", she added.
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