Galvanizing the party cadre for 2017 State Assembly polls, the Congress party will launch 1000-kilometres padyatra from September to take on the SAD-BJP led Punjab Government. Before that, the party would launch a mass contact programme from June 1.
“We will launch a mass contact programme in the State from June 1. The idea is to apprise the masses of mass accumulation of disproportionate assets by the ruling Badal family, rampant conflict of interests between the family and their relatives, mounting farm distress and concerns over the safety of women, especially Dalits,” said State party chief Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday. He said that the mass contact programme would be followed by a 1000-km padyatra across the state to mobilise support against the incumbent Government and capture the space of “the most viable political alternative ahead of the 2017 State elections”, which it had lost to AAP in the lok Sabha elections.
The mass contact would start from 35 reserved Assembly segments in line with Congress’ strategy to win back the Dalit vote bank and considering the fact that the victims of the recent molestation cases in the State (Moga and then Muktsar) were all Dalits. The party would also celebrate 125th birth anniversary year of Babasaheb BR Ambedkar this year, he said, adding that Punjab was home to the highest percentage of Dalit population of 33 per cent.