In her maiden visit to the Maoist-impacted Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke of the special ties that her family has with the region, mentioning that though this was her first visit, she has always been hearing of Bastar and the struggle of its people right from her childhood.
In what is being looked upon as the onset of Congress’ poll campaign in the crucial region, Priyanka Gandhi attended the ‘Bharose ka Sammelan’ (convention of trust) of the Bhupesh Baghel-led government at Jagdalpur.
Congress holds all the 12 assembly constituencies of the Bastar division spanning seven districts and the Bastar Lok Sabha seat too. Given the socio-political as well as electoral importance of the region, the ruling party will look to retain all these seats in 2023 Assembly and 2024 LS polls. The visit of Priyanka Gandhi, a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, is being looked upon as important in this direction.
At the outset of her address at the convention, Priyanka Gandhi talked about the visits of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru (her great grandfather), Indira Gandhi (her grandmother) and Rajiv Gandhi (father) to Bastar and their work for the region. She mentioned that earlier, Bastar had a different identity but now it has become a brand, and products from the region are being sold and used not only nationally but internationally. She added that her grandmother would say that tribal culture was the best because they lived and eked out a livelihood without harming nature.
Priyanka Gandhi extolled the work of the current Congress government in the state led by Baghel and attacked the opposition BJP. She said that in its 15 years of rule, BJP made people of Bastar dependent on the government, while Congress made them self-reliant. Indicating the schemes of the Baghel government based on cows and other cattle, she mentioned that earlier cows used to roam the streets, but with Congress government schemes both cows and people were happy.
“You have the example of the previous (BJP) government who only looted you and the current government that gives you all; now you have to decide whom to trust upon,” she said.
The Congress leader also said that Baghel never indulged in negative politics and always thinks of betterment of people.
Speaking on the occasion, CM Baghel said that people outside Bastar used to be scared of visiting this place, because of fear of Maoists. The Naxalites and the police were engaged in combat, but our innocent tribals had to pay the price by losing their lives. He mentioned that in a first example in the country, the Congress government had returned lands of tribal acquired in Lohandiguda, after a project of a mega steel plant was abandoned there. The CM added that now, Bastar was progressing through education and people were getting benefits of welfare schemes.
Chhattisgarh Congress in-charge Kumari Selja, senior cabinet ministers of Baghel government including T.S. Singh Deo, Kawasi Lakhma, MLAs and other leaders were present at the event.
Schemes, announcements
On the occasion, the ‘Mukhyamantri Adivasi Parab Samman Nidhi Yojana’ was launched, under which all village panchayats in scheduled areas of state will get an annual amount of Rs. 10,000 in two installments for joyous and dignified celebration of tribal festivals. Funds of Rs 5,000 each were issued to all 1,840 village panchayats of the Bastar division in the presence of Priyanka Gandhi.
CM Baghel along with Priyanka Gandhi dedicated development works worth Rs 62.29 crores and conducted groundbreaking ceremonies for works worth Rs 66.70 crores.
The CM announced that an ‘Indira Gandhi Women’s Cooperative Bank’ will be established in Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar division. The government women’s college in Narayanpur will be renamed Veerangana Ramotin Madia Shasakiya Adarsh Mahila Mahavidyalay, the Narayanpur Agriculture College and Research Center Kerlapal will be renamed after the founder of Ghotul Lingo Mudiyal, the Dantewada Government College Katekalyan will be renamed after Hidma Majhi and the Bijapur Government College Bhairamgarh will be renamed after Dhurvarao Madia.
Earlier, Priyanka Gandhi offered prayers at Ma Danteshwari temple, paid tributes to late Jawaharlal Nehru at his statue in Jagdalpur and to the Congress leaders slain in Jhiram Valley attack. She also visited an exhibition of government welfare works put up at the venue. She interacted with the women engaged in different livelihood activities through self-help groups.
