The Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay has formed a five-member committee to inquire into complaints about party members working against the Congress backed candidates in the recent Haridwar district Panchayat election. Apart from this, the party will organise serial protests against the Union Government from January 27 across the State. The PCC chief said this while addressing the media here on Thursday.
Accusing the Union Government headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘anti-Dalit’ actions, the PCC chief said that the Congress will hold a series of protests against the Union Government in different parts of the State. Upadhyay said, “The recent suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad is one of the unfortunate repercussions of anti-Dalit policies. Action should be taken against the persons responsible for his death to ensure justice. The anti-Dalit orientation is one of the issues against which our serial protest is slated to be conducted. Starting on January 27, the protests will be held every other day till the end of February. We are also protesting against the presence of a rape-accused minister in the union cabinet and demand that he be expelled from the cabinet. Another major issue of our serial protest is the continuing price rise that has created problems for the public especially the women home makers.” The PCC chief further said that the Mahila Congress will be organising a convention each in Garhwal and Kumaon regions soon.
Referring to the recent Haridwar Panchayat elections, Upadhyay said, “The PCC disciplinary committee had received complaints about Congress insiders working against candidates backed by the party in the Haridwar district Panchayat polls. Some had even contested the Panchayat polls against Congress backed candidates. We would have had about 40 seats had these insiders not worked against our candidates. The five-member committee of senior party leaders will conduct an inquiry of alleged anti-party activities and submit its report to the PCC within a month,” said Upadhyay. He further informed that in the coming days, Congress leaders will tour assembly constituency areas not represented by Congress MlAs in order to learn of the problems being faced by the people and to publicise the various welfare measures taken by the Congress-led State Government. Uttarakhand Mahila Congress president and MlA Sarita Arya was also present at the Press conference.