Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will undertake a padayatra in his former parliamentary constituency Amethi on December 18 as part of the ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ against inflation and the ‘gross mismanagement’ of the economy, the Congress announced on Monday,.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also join the padayatra.
In a statement, AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said the party launched a countrywide agitation on November 14 “to expose the gross mismanagement of the economy by the Modi government and make people aware of its insensitivity in addressing the prevalent back breaking inflation”. The party had tried to ensure a discussion on inflation in the ongoing winter session of Parliament that started on November 29, he noted.
On December 12, the party held a ‘mehngai hatao’ rally in Jaipur, during which Mr. Gandhi compared the prices of essential commodities such as pulses, ghee, flour, sugar and LPG from 2014 and claimed how they almost doubled under the Modi government. “Achhe din aa gaye? [Have good days come?]”, asked Mr. Gandhi at the rally. “Achhe din aa gaye - hum do, humare do ke! [Good days have come for two of us and two others close to us]”, he added.
Mr. Venugopal said Mr. Gandhi would address a public rally in Dehradun on December 16 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Vijay Diwas’, marking the 1971 victory against Pakistan and commemorating the Bangladesh liberation war.
