By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Congress will “expose failures” of the BJP on several issues, including that of farmers and women, internal security, price rise and unemployment, in the run-up to the assembly polls in five states beginning February 10, party sources said on Tuesday.
They said that as part of its campaign, senior Congress leaders will hold press conferences in all the poll-bound states on Wednesday on the issue of farmers.
They said the party seeks to highlight how the BJP has failed to double farmers’ income and how it has burdened them with additional taxes on farm inputs and given the agrarian community pain due to the farm laws.
Sources said the Congress will release the BJP’s report card on farmers’ issues simultaneously in different centres in the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur.
Titled “Aamdani na hui doguni, Dard sau guna” (Incomes have not doubled but pain has increased 100 times), Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala along with Punjab unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu will jointly release the report card on Wednesday in Chandigarh.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, along with Supriya Shrinate, will release it in Lucknow, while party leaders Mohan Prakash and Gourav Vallabh will do so in Dehradun.
Party MPs Gurjit Singh Aujla and Jasbir Singh Dimpa will release it in Amritsar and Punjab minister Pargat Singh Rajeev Shukla in Jalandhar.
In Varanasi too, party leaders Sachin Pilot and Ajay Rai will release the report card and party leaders Yashpal Arya and Szarita Laitphlang will do so in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani.
The Congress will launch similar report cards are inflation, unemployment, economic downturn, internal security, status of women and the youth, and security of women, among other issues.
Surjewala said the Congress will “expose” the BJP’s “anti-farmer” mindset and will highlight how the government has failed to implement its promises, including doubling of farmers incomes by 2022.
He said the BJP has only provided lip service and not done anything for farmers, while it has inflicted a lot of pain on them during the past over a year when farmers were fighting on the streets against the three farm laws.
These laws were subsequently repealed.
Surjewala said while the government is paying Rs 6,000 per year to every farming households, it is “looting them” by taking out money from their pockets by way of additional taxes on all farm inputs.
The Congress leader said the government has not even done anything to address the farmers’ concerns on the minimum support price (MSP).
While MSP on paddy had been increased by 126 per cent during the UPA regime, it has increased only by 48 per cent during the NDA government.
Similarly, the MSP on wheat which had increased by 87 per cent during the UPA, has been increased by only 44 per cent during the NDA regime.
Private companies, including insurance firms, have been benefitting at the cost of farmers under the BJP government, he alleged.
The BJP has formulated a fresh campaign strategy for the assembly polls in five states keeping COVID-19 guidelines in mind and will hold small physical rallies that will also be streamed live on various social media platforms, party sources said on Tuesday.
BJP president J P Nadda deliberated with several leaders on the campaign strategy and it was decided that all rallies will be in hybrid mode — top party functionaries will physically address small gatherings and these will be telecast live in multiple areas and streamed on social media platforms.
Top party leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, will hit the campaign trail after January 22, they said.
They said the party has the required infrastructure to connect with the public using technology.
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, the Election Commission has imposed restrictions on holding big political rallies till January 22.
Thereafter, the poll panel will review the situation and take a call on the future course.
Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will be held between February 10 and March 7.
The election results will be announced on March 10.
