Congress party in Maharashtra has its hopes pinned on a 'newly recharged' vice-president Rahul Gandhi for its revival. Sanjay Jog reports
After a series of electoral debacles, the Congress in Maharashtra looks to its vice-president Rahul Gandhi for the party’s revival.
Gandhi will visit six villages of Amravati district the Vidarbha region on Thursday. In Amravati division, 295 farmers have committed suicide during January-April due to drought, untimely rain and hailstorm.
Gandhi will address the farmers in the Dhamangaon constituency, which is represented by Congress MLA Virendra Jagtap. During his day-long visit, Gandhi will travel 175 km, of which he will cover 15 km on foot.
Jagtap told Business Standard: “The Congress vice-president will have interaction with farmers in my constituency.”
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Chavan said Rahul's visit is part of his nation wide tour to meet farmers, understand their problems especially in the wake of Centre's new land acquisition bill, highlight their plight and seek respective government's intervention for help.
He added that the Congress party has demanded an immediate debt waiver of farmers by the Centre and the Maharashtra government.
Rahul's visit conincides with the opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party stepping up their attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state for not doing enough to help the farmers hit by drought, unseasonal rain and hailstorm.
Further, the Congress party, which has failed to open its account in the Lok Sabha poll and bagged mere nine seats in the Vidarbha region, plans to make Rahul's visit a mega event to rejuvenate party organisation and thereby boost the rank and file.
A senior Congress leader, who did not want to be named, hoped that the faction ridden party will take corrective steps for its revival after Rahul's visit.
''Despite 15 years in power during 1999 and 2014, the Congress party had failed to consolidate its position in the Vidarbha region. Besides, the region continues to remain underdeveloped due to lack of adequate funds, slow pace of development projects especially irrigation and lack of strong leadership. Rahul's visit will help enthuse the leaders and rank and file.''
Kishor Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, an advocacy group of farmers, has said that about 445 farmers have committed suicides in last four months.
About four lakh farmers are in acute distress and are in need of farm loan waiver and food security, Tiwari claimed adding that about 10 lakh hectares of Rabi and four lakh in Kharif season was damaged due to untimely rains.
As per the state revenue department's data about 49,042 hectares in the Vidarbha region was affected in March due to rain and hailstorm including 28,233 hectares in Western Vidarbha which comprises five districts in Amravati division.
Similarly, the total number of farmers affected in the entire suicide-prone region was estimated to be around 98,384, the highest being 54,962 farmers in six districts of Nagpur division in Eastern Vidarbha.
Yavatmal district often described as the 'suicide capital' of Vidarbha topped the list with about 11,066 hectares of crop while a total of 6,567 farmers were affected.
Yavatmal district was followed by Amravati with 7,7551 hectares and 16,173 farmers being affected. While in Washim and Akola districts about 4,177 hectares with 15,145 farmers and 3,518 hectares with 4,216 farmers were placed in the affected category respectively.
On the horticulture front, oranges, sweet lime and pomegranate crops were destroyed in 933.16 hectares and 1119 fruit-growers were affected.
