While a debate rages within the Congress on whether to pursue party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's move to push for internal democracy or stay with the good old "consensus" system, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra upped the ante on Friday and said the main problem with party leaders is that they are not aware of the expectations of the masses.
"We don't try to know what people expect from us. What can we do if we don't understand their needs? Now is the time for us to mix with the masses and struggle for them. Let me know if there is any shortcoming in me. Let the party realise if it is lacking somewhere," she said at a meeting of Congress leaders in Rae Bareli on Friday. It was the second day of her two-day visit to her mother and party president Sonia Gandhi's Parliamentary constituency. Incidentally, this was also Priyanka's first visit after the Congress' debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Amidst the gloom and doom post defeat, a sizeable section of Congress workers had clamoured for Priyanka, but the charismatic Gandhi has stayed away from active politics so far.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Priyanka had taken on Narendra Modi after he had described Rahul as a "namuna" (an odd or clownish character). She had retorted that those who aspired to be prime minister should be dignified, not childish. On another occasion when Modi had said Priyanka was like his daughter, the latter had said: "I am Rajiv Gandhi's daughter." After that, Priyanka had chosen to stay away from public glare.
Addressing the party activists at the Bhuemau Guest House on Friday, she said, "We are not in power. So we can utilise our time in getting closer to the people. For this, we also need to tell them about the weaknesses of the Narendra Modi government. Make it an issue of debate in your respective areas."
Satyagraha
Priyanka asked Congressmen to oppose the new land ordinance of the Centre. "It is not in favour of the peasants. The government may acquire land of farmers without their consent. I am gearing up to struggle for them on this issue. But I also want you to do it on a larger scale," she said.
On Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Dhirendra Singh had organised a huge protest in Noida's Bhatta Parsaul village against the ordinance. Former Union minister Jairam Ramesh had participated in it on the direction of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Priyanka alleged that the ordinance has taken away the provision of acquiring land only after a farmer's consent under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, enacted by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
Interestingly, she also asked partymen to use social media to make people aware of welfare programmes and acts which were introduced by the erstwhile UPA government.
"Use the social media extensively to tell the people about the benefits of Right to Education, Right to Information and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Explain to them through social media why these programmes were strengthening the democratic process in the country. But social media should also be used to tell the people why the schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is like any other bank account", she said in reply to an observation from a party worker that while the BJP has several magazines, newspapers and news agencies to popularise the achievements of the Modi government, the Congress has none.
"She told us that social media is emerging as a powerful medium of communication. It is within our reach and so we shouldn't shy away from publicising our achievements and criticising the works of the National Democratic Alliance government," Jirendra Singh, president of farmers' cell of the Congress in Rae Bareli told Mail Today.
Shailja Singh, a block-level Congress leader, said, "What we understood from Priyanka's visit is that she is preparing to be a part of any movement that we raise for the people."
She said the Gandhi scion asked the party's women leaders to reach out if an ordinary citizen was harassed by goons or the police. "She asked us to protest in front of police stations in such cases. When we told her that the police was insensitive about people's problems, she said she would personally reach the spot to participate in the protest if the cops didn't listen to us", she added.
