New Delhi, Nov 10 (FN Agency) Congress will launch a nationwide ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ and ‘padyatras’ across the country from November 14 to 29 against price rise, unemployment and other issues. The programme has been drawn by the newly-constituted committee to plan sustained agitation on national issues. Drawing inspiration from the Dandi march led by Mahatma Gandhi, the logo of the agitation programme would depict the historic protest against the salt tax. “Logo for the Padyatra to be held by Congress will depict the Dandi March. Mahatma Gandhi led the march against tax on salt, which had affected every household. Today the increase in the price of gas cylinders has hit every household,” Digvijay Singh, who heads the panel which is planning agitations, said. The Jan Jagran Abhiyan will start from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday on November 14, and go on for 15 days till November 29.
Party General Secretary KC Venugopal said the agitation is against inflation and back breaking price rise which is destroying livelihoods. “During the course of the ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’, Congress party workers will reach out to the maximum number of people across the country to strengthen the people’s voice against the unprecedented price rise in the CNG, cooking gas, diesel, petrol, cooking oil, pulses and other essential commodities,” Venugopal said. Congress leaders and workers will undertake a week-long ‘Padyatra’ with night halts in the villages, towns and cities of their mass contact areas. The ‘Padyatra’ will begin every morning with a ‘Prabhat pheri’ followed by ‘Shramadaan’ (social service) and cleanliness drive. Numerous small group meetings will also be held to communicate the nuances of inflation and its adverse effects on everyday lives of the common people. The Congress will also hold a training camp being organised for State level trainers from November 12 to 15 at Sevagram, Wardha, Maharashtra with specific emphasis on issues pertaining to the ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’. The State level trainers will then conduct a training programme at the parliament, assembly and sector level. The Social Media Department of Congress will launch a Social Media campaign in Delhi on November 12. AICC and PCCs will do live streaming of senior Congress Leaders of their respective mass contact programmes.
The participants of the ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ and those supporting it can also register through a missed call on a toll free number. With a membership drive of the party being launched on November 1, the callers are also expected to register as Congress members. A central control room has also been formed by the party to oversee the agitation programs. The members of the control room include party leaders BK Hariprasad, JD Seelam, Udit Raj, Gurdeep Singh Sappal, Ragini Nayak, Manish Chatrath, Vineet Punia, Naveen Sharma, and Harsh Vardhan Shyam. Congress had announced the committee to plan sustained agitations on national issues on September 2. The committee is headed by party leader Digvijay Singh. Party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi is a part of the committee. Hariprasad, Udit Raj, Nayak, and Chatrath are members of both the committee and the control room. Other members of the committee to plan agitations are Ripun Bora, Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Zuber Khan.