Mumbai: On 19 December, a van with PM Narendra Modi’s pictures and catch phrases like ‘Modi Sarkar’ and ‘Modi’s guarantee’ was stopped by a group of villagers at Varvat Bakal village in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district.
The ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Rath’ equipped with a LED screen was to criss-cross Sangrampur taluka for showcasing the “success” of Modi government’s schemes.
Abhaysingh Marode, who led these villagers, had several questions for the government officials accompanying the vehicle — ‘Why does the van say Modi Sarkar, not the Government of India?’ and ‘Why is taxpayers’ money being used to promote a party and a person?’
“When they showcase Modi’s guarantees on the van, how can one person take them? Isn’t it about the entire government system? We are asking logical questions and not opposing for the sake of opposition,” Marode told ThePrint.
The Varvat Bakal episode is seemingly not an isolated episode as the Sankalp yatra has encountered villagers at some pockets stopping the modified vans and demanding answers from government officials. Videos of such incidents are all over social media. The likes of Marode are putting officials at “unease” with their tough questions.
Launched 15 November, the yatra saw the launch of IEC (Information, Education and Communication) vans from the tribal districts of Nandurbar, Nashik, Gadchiroli, Palghar and Nanded. Before it culminates on 25 January, these vans will reach out to citizens who are eligible for central schemes but have not benefited, in 2.7 lakh gram panchayats and about 15,000 urban locations.
“All their schemes have failed over the years. To get our answers, we even wrote to our tehsil office that the employees should be trained to tell us about the central government schemes. They have no answers to any questions we ask,” Marode said, adding that he has stopped this yatra at 12 places in the district.
Marode claimed that he was not associated with any political party.
In Parbhani district, government officials on 28 December wrote to the collector saying that they won’t go to villages as they are facing opposition. They further wrote that since they have no answers to various questions, they fear for safety. A copy of the letter is with ThePrint.
Later, Parbhani collector Raghunath Gawade held meetings with the officials. “The matter is solved and we have also appraised the DSP about the programmes well in advance. We have given protection and told them that if there is any issue, they can call me directly. They apologised for writing the letter. We have addressed the safety concerns. So, there is no problem,” Gawade told ThePrint.
BJP state spokesperson Keshav Upadhyay seemed unperturbed about these blockades. “Yes, in a few places there was opposition at a smaller level. But the yatra is overall going fine in the state,” Upadhyay told ThePrint. “Through this yatra, we are taking the government’s message to the people, and it is being delivered.”
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Pockets of opposition
Over 600 km from Buldhana, local resident Raj Vaibhav, who is well-versed with the Constitution, stopped the yatra in Sonyachi Shiroli village at Radhanagari taluka in Kolhapur district on 13 December.
Like Marode, Vaibhav objected to the use of ‘Modi Sarkar’ instead of ‘Bharat Sarkar’ or ‘Government of India’.
“I have no objection when people orally or in popular culture attribute the government to one person, but when the system uses only one name to attribute it to the country, I have an objection. It is unconstitutional. This is a violation of Article 1 as the Constitution says India that is Bharat, as the name of the country,” Vaibhav said.
He also objected to the van’s saffron and green paint alleging that the colours match that of the BJP. “Isn’t our flag tricolour? Why use saffron and green that resembles BJP’s flag? So, I accuse Modi and BJP of promoting themselves ahead of the elections using government employees and tax payers’ money.”
Vaibhav and his ilk assert that if BJP had come out clean and done promotions using party funds or workers, they would have no objection. Another contention is that they are well-within their rights to put across questions and that they are not resorting to any violence.
For the yatra to reach villages, the government officials are taking the help of local sarpanchs, who along with the village committees make sure that people assemble at a common meeting point.
At Palshi Zhasi village in Buldhana district where the yatra was stopped, sarpanch Narayan Chitode, a BJP supporter, said that though there was an opposition, he could conduct the programme.
“About 100 people were gathered, and those who opposed had questions for the authorities but that happened on the sidelines. I was able to conduct the programme for those villagers who turned up,” Chitode said.
In Varvat Bakal village, the scene was different. The panchayat samiti office had informed the sarpanch, Pratibha Ingle, about the yatra and had got permission. But, she did not stop the opposition.
“As a sarpanch, I had to be non-partisan and told the villagers that if they want to attend the programme they can and understand what the central schemes are and decide whatever they want to do in 2024. But personally, I support the opposition. The opposition is on correct grounds, and the people ask questions as they are informed,” said Ingle, a Congress worker.
Villagers question schemes
People are coming out on the road and we have not involved any political leaders into this movement, said Raj. “We all are connected through social media after seeing these videos that are going viral.”
At Savargav Ghule village in Sangamner taluka Ahmednagar district, 400 km from Kolhapur, Aniket Ghule, a youth, tried to stop the yatra on 31 December alleging that the vehicle sported the BJP’s Lotus symbol. Ghule took a video to support his claim.
Ghule said that the people have questions ranging from the success of the Ujjwala Yojana when prices of gas cylinders are skyrocketing, employment avenues, inflation to rising hunger index, Awas Yojana progress in their villages, doubling of farmers’ income.
They are talking about digital education and schemes related to education but in my village, they have closed down three Marathi language schools, Ghule asserted. “The reality is starkly different from what they (BJP) are promoting. But when questioned all they (officials) say is ‘we have the orders from above and we are doing our job’.”
“People have started realising this on their own. After seeing my video, a village about 15 km from my village stopped the rath,” Ghule said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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When government depositing loan waiver amounts in the banks of these villagers, they don’t complain that tax payers money is spent in such way. Just double standards…..if it rains in non-season months, they just demand survey n compensation. But who pays for them ? We, the tax payers. But these protesting people just know to take and nothing about paying taxes.