BHOPAL: Congress party will hold Jan Vedhna Panchayat (People’s Agony Panchayats) in all 480 blocks in Madhya Pradesh against the ill-effects of demonetisation. This is part of a series of agitations planned by the AICC at the national level. Whereas Congress elsewhere will hold the agitation meetings against Narendra Modi-Centre’s demonetisation mismanagement at the assembly constituency levels, in Madhya Pradesh the party will hold the same at blocks.
“If we organised the agitations at the assembly segments, there would be only 230 demonstrations. However, when we hold a meeting at every block-level the number would double,” said state Congress chief spokesman KK Mishra. The meetings against demonetisation will start soon after the Republic Day celebrations and will continue till March 1. AICC general secretary Mohan Prakash told reporters that the party will now go from block-to-block with its protest.
A drama will be enacted in the panchayat meetings in which an actor wearing PM Modi’s mask will asked to sit and answer questions on demonetisation. “PM had said that if situation did not improve 50 days after demonetisation, then he could be punished,” said KK Mishra.
The decision was taken at the Jan Vedhna Sammelan in the old PCC Jawahar Bhavan office of the Congress party on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting was attended by a large gathering of Congress’ leaders, office-bearers and workers. Though the real stalwarts including Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia kept away, it was attended by former Union ministers Suresh Pachauri and Kantilal Bhuria, AICC general secretary in-charge of state affairs Mohan Prakash, Congress leaders Arvinder Singh Lovely and Jitendra Singh besides state PCC chief Arun Yadav and his team.
Congress passed a censure motion in the meeting against police action on PCC chief Arun Yadav during an NSUI agitation held here last week. Yadav was badly injured in the police lathi-charge and was hospitalised for three days. The party also conveyed anger on BJP MP from Khargone seat Subhash Patel’s misbehaviour with acting leader of Opposition Bala Bachchan on the dais of a public function on Saturday. The party will `gherao’ and agitate against the ruling BJP outside the state assembly on Feb 21, the first day of the budget session.
Absence of top leaders remained the centre of discussions in Tuesday’s meeting. Suresh Pachauri expressed his anger at a party worker who asked why the prominent central leaders from the state do not unite. Veteran Congressman and former minister of the erstwhile Digvijaya Singh government, Hazarilal Raghuvanshi said, “All Congress leaders big and small will have to unite and meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi if the party is to be strengthened. Those leaders who do not want to unite should stay at home.” Asked why the top leaders did not come for the meeting, Raghuvanshi said, “If Hazarilal Raghuvanshi does not attend a meeting, will the Congress party stop functioning?”
