Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will hold Kisan Mahapanchayats in Meerut and Bijnor on February 15 in support of agitating farmers and try to reclaim lost ground in Western Uttar Pradesh.
After participating in the ‘antim ardas’ of Navreet Singh, the farmer who was killed during the tractor rally on Republic Day, Priyanka has decided to fan out and spread her wings in the agrarian community. Recently, she addressed a sizeable gathering at Chilkana in Saharanpur to announce her foray in western UP. Buoyed by the success of the panchayat, she now plans to take a whirlwind tour of 27 districts of western UP. During her visit to Meerut and Bijnor on February 15, the Congress leaders will also visit families of farmers, who are participating in the agitation, to show solidarity with them.
A senior party functionary told the FPJ that the party is resurrecting the ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ slogan given by the late Lal Bahadur Shastri at the time of 1965 war. “The country is facing internal strife and farmers are fighting pitched battles with the police. Our efforts are aimed at uniting the farmers and the country,” he pointed out.
Clearly, attempts are being made by the Congress to pitch Priyanka in place of Rahul under whose leadership the party could win only seven seats in the 2017 Assembly polls; in fact, he lost his own seat from Amethi, a party bastion.
CHALO GAON KI ORE: Meanwhile, launching a ‘chalo gaon ki ore’ (lets go to villages) drive, on his father Ajit Singh’s birthday, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Vice President Jayant Chowdhary has declared that if the government is adamant about not withdrawing the three farm laws then agitating farmers will return to their homes only after ousting the Modi government. Holding another Kisan Mahapanchayat in Mathura, the RLD leader belied the government’s claim that the agitation was restricted to Punjab only.
“It may have started from Punjab and Haryana but now it’s a nationwide agitation. There is a countrywide outrage against the three farm laws among farmers. Over 200 farmers have laid their lives so far. The government should understand this and withdraw the three laws,” he urged.
