Continuing from where he had left early this week in Bhopal where he had interacted with the party’s women activists, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will seek the inputs of the party’s select representatives from various Panchayat Raj institutions in the country for the Congress’ 2014 lok Sabha poll manifesto, at Sevagram in Wardha district on Friday.
During his day-long visit to Sevagram in eastern Maharashtra, Gandhi will have two sets of interactions with his party cadres from Maharashtra and other parts of the country. In the first interaction organised at the behest of the All India Congress Committee under the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat programme, Gandhi will interact with the select representatives from various Panchayat Raj bodies across the country. “In this interaction, he will seek the inputs of various visiting Congress activists for incorporation in the party’s manifesto for the 2014 lok Sabha polls,” a senior Congress leader said.
In the second engagement of the day, Gandhi will interact with party’s elected representatives from various Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis, Municipal corporations and municipal councils across in Maharashtra. In this interaction, the Congress vice president will also seek the view of the party’s activists, but will also pep them for the forthcoming polls.
Congress’ Maharashtra party affairs in-charge Mohan Prakash and State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre will take part in both the interactions.
More than 3,000 party activists are expected to attend the Sevagram interactive session, which is being undertaken as part of the party leadership’s effort to seek views and suggestions of the cadres for incorporation in the party manifesto for the polls.
The Congress’ Sevagram meet is in line with an announcement made by Gandhi at the AICC conclave held at Talkatora Stadium last week that the Congress manifesto for 2014 polls would be drafted after eliciting views from a wide cross-section of workers.
“We will throw open the process of manifesto preparation to you, we will ask everyone for inputs. We will take the views of Dalits, tribals, workers, industrialists, youth, women and NGOs,” Gandhi had said at the Talkatora stadium conclave.
Earlier on Monday, Gandhi had held a similar interaction with All India Women Congress Workers in Bhopal, where the party’s women activists put forth their suggestions for the Congress manifesto.
Addressing the party’s women workers in Bhopal, the Congress vice president stressed on equality for women across all sectors. In a strong pitch for women empowerment, Gandhi said: “Women don’t need protection, they need their rights and their space. We need to change the attitude towards women. Till women don’t feel safe in the country, we can never be a super power,” he said.