The Congress on Wednesday said it would launch nationwide mass agitation programme Jan Jagran Abhiyan from November 14 to 29, where it would reach out to people to explain how the Union Government’s “failed economic policies” have led to runaway inflation.
The announcement was made at an AICC press conference addressed by party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, general secretary (communication) Randeep Surjewala and senior Congress leader Digivijay Singh, who heads the party’s internal committee on organising and coordinating mass agitations.
Party workers would lead a week-long “padyatra” with night halts in villages. The programme would begin with “prabhat pehri” (early morning march), followed by “shramdaan” (cleanliness drive). “Padyatris” would hold numerous small group meetings to communicate the nuances of inflation and its adverse effects on the common man, Venugopal said.
Sources said Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to hold similar meetings in UP as part of her election campaign in the state and other senior party leaders have been asked to visit different parts of the country.
Ahead of the launch of the campaign, the party is holding a workshop for a select group of functionaries at Wardha, Maharashtra from November 12-14.
They will be trained by experts from sectors like economy, education, health and agriculture on how to reach out to masses and touch upon issues that have impacted them.
The party workers will be armed with data on how fuel price increased under BJP regime, impact of monetisation, farm laws and unemployment.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, during the recent Congress Working Committee meeting, had stressed the need to train party leaders and workers on ideological issues. The party’s training department, headed by Sachin Rao, will be organising three-day training programmes from November 12- 15 as part of this effort, at Sevagram, Wardha, Maharashtra.
Explaining the context of the agitation programme, the country is undergoing severe pain due to the policies of the Modi government, and especially in the last two years, the condition has deteriorated further with a sharp increase in inflation.”
The edible oil prices, he noted, have doubled in the last one year. Prices of seasonal vegetables had gone up by 40-50 per cent in the last one month alone. The cost of subsidised LPG cylinder has gone up by 50 per cent to ? 900-1,000 in the last one year. Similarly, petrol and diesel prices have gone up by ? 34.38 and 24.38 to ? 103.97 and ? 86.67 a litre respectively in the last 18 months.
A meeting of the agitation committee headed by Digvijay Singh was held Monday to plan the activities.