Seemingly seeking to mount a political counter to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s Navakerala Sadas, the Congress party is set to launch ‘Samaragni’, a 20-day State-wide yatra from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram from February 9. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran, MP, and Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan will lead the yatra which is also aimed at revitalising the party organisation and energising the grassroots-level party workers ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Bread and butter issues
Around 30 public meetings with mass participation are planned during ‘Samaragni’, which has a stated intention of highlighting the ‘anti-people policies’ of the Union and State governments. According to a statement from the KPCC, the party will focus on raising bread and butter issues more than the political issues that have roiled the State in recent times.
But, the Congress leaders who will address the rally at various districts are expected to highlight the corruption and nepotism charges against the Chief Minister’s office and family, police high-handedness, the delay in disbursal of welfare pensions, farmers’ suicides, the lack of progress in the LIFE housing mission and KFON projects and the deep financial crisis that the State is staring at. The party will also seek to gain an advantage over the LDF by accusing it of having a tacit understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to isolate the Congress in Kerala.
In capital on Feb. 29
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal will inuagurate ‘Samaragni’ at the Kasaragod municipal ground at 4 p.m. on February 9. AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala affairs Deepa Dasmunshi, Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala, Shashi Tharoor and Kodikkunnil Suresh, MPs, UDF convener M.M. Hassan and other leaders will participate in the meeting. The party’s national-level leaders as well as those of the constituent parties of the United Democratic Front (UDF) will participate at the events in various districts.
The yatra will conclude at Putharikkandam Maidanam in the capital on February 29 with a mega rally, in which Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other top leaders are expected to participate.
