The Congress in Uttar Pradesh will now focus on the Bundelkhand region to highlight the failures of the Modi government at the Centre and the Akhilesh government in the state on the issue of developme
The Congress in Uttar Pradesh will now focus on the Bundelkhand region to highlight the failures of the Modi government at the Centre and the Akhilesh government in the state on the issue of development.
UPCC president Nirmal Khatri has sent a letter to all district Congress presidents, asking them to direct the ticket-seekers in the region to fan out into villages and create awareness about the apathy of the centre and state governments towards the problems being faced by the people of Bundelkhand.
“There is an inordinate delay in implementation of the Food Security Act, a lack of water and power supply in the region and also a delay in giving compensation to farmers who have lost their crops. This is forcing a large scale migration from Bundelkhand but the centre and state government are not bothered. The BJP and SP is happy patting its own back and refuses to see the ground realities,” the UPCC president said.
Those aspiring for a ticket from the Congress in the Bundelkhand region have been asked to reach out to the remotest village in the region and collect facts and figures related to the prevailing situation.
“The aspirants have been asked to hold chaupals, padyatras and meetings in the villages and submit their programmes to the UPCC by March 31. The meetings and chaupals are to be held between April 1 to 15 and their performance in the programme will decide their tickets,” said a party functionary.
The UPCC plans to monitor the programmes on a random basis to ensure that the programmes are not being held on paper.
“The idea behind this is to make the people aware of what the UPA had done for them and how the state governments did not allow the benefits to percolate down to the lowest level. Even the BJP had made tall promises for Bundelkhand in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections but now their ministers do not visit the region to take stock of the situation. Farmers are being driven to suicide but the state government is not bothered,” the party leader said.
The focus of the Congress campaign in Bundelkhand will be Banda, Jhansi, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Chitrakoot and the party plans to cover the entire region from these centres.
“The cause of Bundelkhand has always been close to the heart of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and he was instrumental in getting a package for the region during UPA-2 but the state government sat over the funds and nothing reached Bundelkhand. Through this campaign, we will make the people aware of the situation and also expose the other parties that have been neglecting the region,” the party leader added.
