Rahul, Shah to make MP poll pitches this weekend
Both leaders will address their respective support bases
BHOPAL: Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) counterpart Amit Shah will test the waters in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday through meetings with groups they believe form their respective support bases in the state, where assembly elections are due later this year.
While Gandhi will address a gathering in Morena of about 25,000 members of Ekta Parishad, an organisation leading a “people’s movement” for social and land reforms and whose members are already en route to Delhi with an assortment of demands, Shah will look to reassure farmers in Jaora, in Malwa region, the epicentre of the violent agitation in June 2017 when six farmers in Mandsaur district were killed in police firing.
Gandhi appears to be making the right stride by reaching out to the Ekta Parishad, whose national convener Aneesh Thillenkery said on Thursday that he expected the Congress leader to address the issues the “representative of landless and the marginalised” had been raising in a “non-violent” manner.
The Parishad, whose national headquarters is in Bhopal, has a strong presence in the state, especially in the Gwalior-Chambal region, and has held similar marches in 2007 and 2012 from Gwalior to Delhi to press for their land-related demands.
The Parishad is demanding fast-track courts to settle agriculture disputes, for recognising and giving land rights to women farmers and formulating a comprehensive land reforms and agriculture policy.
This will be Gandhi’s third visit within three weeks to the state. Gandhi’s address at Ambedkar stadium in Morena district, situated 30km from Gwalior and 490km north of Bhopal, will coincide with Shah’s address to the farmers. From Morena, Gandhi will travel to Jabalpur where he will “worship” the Narmada river and then take part in a road show.
Shah, on the other hand, will travel to Jhabua district, a tribal region in western Madhya Pradesh adjoining Gujarat. Of the 47 tribal seats in the state, the BJP rules over 32, while the Congress over the remaining 15. He will also address a meeting of polling booth conveners in Indore.
His party’s state spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said Shah’s visit is “keenly awaited” by the tribals and farmers, as well as the party workers.
“Over the years, the BJP, due to its policies, has made major progress in breaking the Congress stranglehold among the tribals and now it has more seats than the Congress in tribal regions. Also, farmers, especially in the Malwa region, have been the backbone of the BJP’s support base. There might have been some anger after Mandsaur agitation, but that is all over now.”
GANDHI’S ADDRESS AT AMBEDKAR STADIUM IN MORENA DISTRICT, 30KM FROM GWALIOR AND 490KM NORTH OF BHOPAL, WILL COINCIDE WITH SHAH’S ADDRESS TO THE FARMERS