NEW DELHI: Consistent agitation against the BJP government, connecting with people at grassroots and tracking feedback from the ground — these will be part of the Congress’s public outreach plan with an eye on the 2024 elections.
The committee on agitation under Digvijaya Singh with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as a member at its first meeting discussed issues to create an atmosphere against the Modi government. During the meeting, Priyanka shared inputs related to Uttar Pradesh based on her visits to several areas. She was of the view that besides national issues, the party should also focus on state-specific matters concerning people.
There were also demands that Rahul Gandhi should take over as party chief. The committee agreed on three issues — inflation, farm laws and unemployment. A detailed plan will be rolled out after approval from acting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Other issues like monetisation plan, Covid-19 mismanagement, crime against women and Pegasus were discussed.
“Committee members were of the view that we should take one or two issues at a time and plan agitations, sit-ins, shutdowns and mass outreach programmes for 15-20 days for bigger impact. The plan to keep up the pressure and create an atmosphere against the high handedness of the BJP government. There was agreement that civil society groups should also be approached,” said a committee member. The agitation committee will work parallelly with the agitations planned by the Opposition parties from September 20-30 on several issues against the Centre.
Expelled leaders criticise priyanka
Responding to senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s claim that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be the party’s face in the UP elections in 2022, expelled Congress leaders including former state minister Satyadev Tripathi said that the party’s UP in-charge had no connect with workers.