New Delhi: In its bid to project a constructive face after successive poll debacles, Delhi Congress has decided to launch an awareness campaign against swine flu to “assist” the AAP government in combating the influenza in Delhi. A day after taking over as the state Congress chief, Ajay Maken made an announcement to this effect saying that the party would also write to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to apprise him of the initiative.
He said such a positive approach while being in the opposition was necessitated by the demands of “new age politics”. “People today want the opposition parties to come with constructive and productive agendas. This approach also helps in making better use of the large army of motivated party workers,” Maken said at a press conference at the State Congress headquarters here. The three-day long awareness drive, which will be launched on March 11, would involve party workers, in groups of 10-15, who will carry placards and hand out pamphlets to people at metro stations and busy market areas.
“We were hoping the impact of swine flu would come down with the onset of summer but the rains have made sure that the chill remains,” he said. The party has called a meeting tomorrow to chart the road map of the campaign that would be attended by senior leaders, district and block presidents, and former MLAs. Maken was flanked by President Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee, who lost from the Greater Kailash seat on the party’s ticket in the Assembly polls.
However, the Delhi Congress chief steered clear of criticising the Kejriwal-led AAP government and even refused to comment on the removal of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from AAP’s Political Affairs Committee. “How can we not cooperate with a democratically elected government?” he asked.
Speaking on the new slogan, ‘Satyamev Jayate’, that the party has adopted, Maken said, “This slogan has been a part of the Congress’s tradition since the days of freedom struggle. Adopting this would help in instilling the values of truth within the workers.
