NCP to activate women’s youth wing for LS polls

MUMBAI: Sakshana Salgar, 28, joined the Rashtrawadi Yuvati Congress (RYC), youth wing of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2012, the year it was set up, after she attended a rally held by MP Supriya Sule, in her home town of Osmanabad, in Marathwada.

Salgar, a daughter of a farmer and an engineering graduate, recalls asking Sule after the rally, whether the wing would actually have place for commoners or just be a platform for politicians’ sisters, daughters and wives.

“Supriyatai told me that RYC was for anyone who showed real merit and commitment. She kept her word and several youngsters like me, who wanted to enter politics, but had no godfathers, have got a platform to represent our people’’ said Salgar, who took over as the RYC president last June.

Six years after it was set up, the RYC has come of age especially in rural and semi-rural areas of Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra and Marathwada, with several youngsters like Salgar, joining the youth platform. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the NCP plans to activate RYC to reach out to young women in the age groups of 18 to 35 years. The youth wing plans to focus on two key planks for its campaign against the ruling government – unemployment and agrarian crisis.

From March 6 onwards, RYC will first start holding meetings within its own network of elected representatives in the panchayat samitis and zilla parishads to discuss the manifesto of the party and its campaign agenda. The functionaries of RYC will hold meetings in every taluka and college in their area to highlight the failed promises of this government starting with creation of two crore jobs to Make in India. As a part of the campaign, RYC will also hold street plays on relevant issues, including the Rafale deal to

reach out to its target group.

“We have quite a presence of young women representatives in elected office, especially in rural areas and they will be used in our campaign. From our past year’s campaign in all colleges and our own experience, we know that the issue of educated unemployed and the farming crisis has the most resonance in rural areas. We have met thousands of graduates across

streams including B.ED, engineering, who have no jobs today,’’ said Salgar.

Manisha Kate, the head of RYC in Vidarbha and graduate in computer applications, like Salgar, comes from a farming family. “NCP doesn’t have a mass base in Vidarbha, but we have activated the RYC network till taluka level across seven districts. The sentiment in rural areas is against the ruling government because every assurance given to farmers in the past five years has failed . That will be the crux of our campaign,’’ she said. Kate, despite her qualifications doesn’t have a job. She takes up farming by leasing out land from farmers on an annual basis.

Both Kate and Salgar were given tickets for ZP polls last year and reflect a growing aspirational class of women, who want to enter politics. When RYC was set up, it was a first-ofits-kind platform for young women. Other parties like Congress have taken cue and set up independent youth wings for women. Whether this wing can make an impact in the Lok Sabha polls remains to be seen, but in the absence of groundlevel cadre like the BJP has from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, it’s a vehicle to reach out to the masses.

Sule said, “These young women represent the future leadership of NCP. They are bright, enthusiastic and have humble roots.’’