With Priyanka Vadra planning to address ‘kisan panchayats’ in Mathura and Muzaffarnagar this weekend, the Congress seems eager to utilise the farmers’ agitation in reviving its fortunes in the Hindi heartland.
She is supposed to address a meeting in Mathura on Friday and a day later in Muzaffarnagar.
Ms. Vadra, who handles Uttar Pradesh, has already addressed three farmer meetings in Rampur, Saharanpur and Bijnore under the ‘Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan’ campaign.
Uphill task
With Assembly polls just a year away and no clear voter base, the party faces an uphill task to build a dedicated constituency.
In somewhat polarised Western U.P., the Jats and the Gujjars backed the BJP and the Muslims the Samajwadi Party.
Congress sources say the political and social relations have changed following the farmers’ agitation. While the Jat farmers are angry with the BJP, the protests over the farm laws may have narrowed the social divide.
“Be it the migrant workers’ crisis or the farmers’ issue, Priyankaji has been taking up their issues with conviction and strength. These mahapanchayats will certainly help in galvanising our dormant party cadre and make us relevant in State politics,” a local Congress leader said.
He had started by attending a memorial service of the Sikh farmer in Rampur who had died in Delhi on January 26 after the farmers’ tractor rally turned violent.
He then followed it up with the mahapanchayats in Saharanpur and Bijnore in the past few days.
