Keeping an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls, the Gujarat Congress on Wednesday kick-start ‘Navsarjan Kinaro Bachao Abhiyan — Boat Yatra’ (Save coast campaign Boat March) from coastal town Mandvi in Kutch district with a view to raising issues related to fishermen.
Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Bharatsinh Solanki flagged off the boat march from Mandvi port. The 10 days long campaign would cover 1600 km long Gujarat coast. During the campaign functions will be held at 30 port towns of the State. The boat march initiated from Mandvi will end at Umargaon on May 12th.
Apart from Solanki, top GPCC leaders including former GPCC presidents Arjun Modhvadia and Siddharth Patel, leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela, former Union Minister Tushar Chaudhary, senior Congress leaders Shaktisinh Gohil, Madhusudan Mistry, Gaurav Pandya among others will travel by boats along the coast at different point of time and address public meetings.
Just couple of days after the conclusion of ‘Navsarjan Adivasi Adhikar Jan Sabha’ targeted to raise issues related to tribal people, the Congress party in poll bound Gujarat came in action with yet another campaign to reach at large population of fishermen community.
The way tribal campaign ended with the public meeting of All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice-president’s huge public meeting at Dediyapada in tribal dominated Narmada district, GPCC leaders are planning to bring national leaders to make the boat march successful.
Already AICC President Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor Ahmed Patel has consented to attend closing ceremony of the campaign at Umargaon. Patel is Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha and belonged to Bharuch town in South Gujarat.
‘We will raise issues related release of Indian fishermen from Pakistan jail along with their boats. At present more than 440 fishermen are in Pakistan jail and around 970 boats are seized by the neighbouring country. Congress leaders will tell about the failure of Indian government to bring fishermen back to their homes,” said GPCC spokesman Manish Doshi, adding that the Congress party will also raise the issue related to cold storage incentives, delay in permission for new boats among others.