NEW DELHI: Eyeing to tap into the dissatisfaction prevailing among the minorities ahead of the 2019 national polls, the Congress has launched a week-long ‘Sadbhavna (goodwill) drive’. The drive launched by the party’s minority department on Tuesday, will also highlight the contributions of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and will culminate on August 21, his birth anniversary.“The minorities are feeling insecure under the Modi government. They need to be reassured,” a senior AICC functionary told Express.
As part of the goodwill week, a host of cultural events like neighbourhood yatras, conclaves, poetry sessions, debates and painting competitions will be organised in areas which have concentration of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains and other communities, said party leaders involved in the plan.Minority department chairman Nadeem Javed, who recently organised a meeting of Congress president Rahul Gandhi with select Muslim intellectuals, marched through the streets of Old Delhi on Tuesday to highlight the significance of India’s Ganga-Jamuni sanskriti (composite culture) among the electorate.
In Mumbai, the Congress has identified eight localities where such events would be organised over the week. Ditto for UP where the party has been trying to woo its traditional vote banks. “The BJP has been trying to brand us as a party of Muslims. But the Congress works for all sections,” said a senior leader of Mumbai Congress.
Talking about Rajiv Gandhi, in whose memory the Congress gives Sadbhavna award every year, a senior leader said, “He brought computers in India, gave voting rights to the youth and empowered women at panchayat level. It is necessary that we tell the youth about him.”
Sadbhavana drive to counter BJP’s ‘divisive politics’
Congress insiders said the objective of the Sadbhavna week was to present the Congress as the only national party which believes in inclusive growth and can counter the BJP’s divisive politics.