Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi interacted with the Baiga tribal women, who are engaged in the collection of Tendupata (Tendu leaves), in Padripathara village of Mandla district as part of the party’s pre-poll exercise to meet people from across the social spectrum.
Addressing the group numbering around 200, Rahul asked them to share their problems without any inhibition. Encouraged by this, a tribal woman told the Congress scion that simply listening to the problems was not going to solve them.
Almost all the women, who were present, complained about the lack of road connectivity and electricity in their area and asked Rahul to resolve the problems.
According to the young leader, he was happy that unlike in some of the states, where the women were too shy to speak out, the home-makers of Mandla had opened up to reveal their everyday woes.
Before interacting with the women, Rahul went around the forest area from where the Tendu leaves, used to roll up bidis, are collected.
He also chatted with the locals.
Rahul,who was accompanied by state Congress chief Arun Yadav and Leader of Opposition Satyadev Katare, also met some of the disgruntled state Congress leaders, who were upset with the ticket distribution, and promised them that he would look into their complaints.
Earlier, the local Congress leaders, who were in charge of the arrangements for Rahul’s visit to Padripathara, told the tribal women that the grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and son of former PM Rajiv Gandhi was coming down to meet them.