Lucknow: Congress national general secretary and the party’s newly-appointed incharge of Uttar Pradesh, Avinash Pande, announced Sunday that he, along with the party’s other general secretaries, UP state president and the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the state assembly will visit Ayodhya on 15 January.
Stating that the Congress has never opposed the Ram temple or stopped anyone from visiting Ayodhya, Pande asked the media “not to spread this myth”.
“On 15 January, I along with the state president, national general secretaries, the CLP leader and other senior leaders will leave for Ayodhya darshan. There will be no compulsion, whosoever wants to go can join us,” said Pande, who replaced Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the general secretary incharge of UP last month.
Pande along with other senior Congress leaders, including co-incharge for UP Congress Dheeraj Gujjar, attended the general body meeting at UPCC (Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee) headquarters in Lucknow Sunday.
Asked who will likely be part of the delegation to Ayodhya, UP Congress chief Ajay Rai told ThePrint that the delegation led by Pande will include him and senior UP Congress leaders like Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari and former provincial president Nirmal Khatri.
The delegation led by Pande will visit the temple city a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi begins the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY), widely viewed as the second leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY).
“I don’t think that there is any person in this country who doesn’t have prabhu (Lord) Ram in his heart. We have been learning from prabhu Ram’s life for ages, and it is his thought that we bow down to,” Pande said.
Claiming that the temple is being constructed according to the orders of the Supreme Court and with the contribution and efforts of everyone, Pande added, “Temple is being constructed today, but nobody was waiting for the temple construction, neither you, nor me. Whenever we would get time to bow down to (prabhu Ram), we did so.”
Pande, however, added that he along with his party were only upset about the politicisation of the faith and sentiments of the people. “This is a question of faith. The only thing is that the politicisation of the faith and sentiments of people is happening for polarisation, that is what I and my party are upset about.”
“Every person is free to follow his or her faith, and we respect everyone. Earlier, it was the question of my personal faith, but yesterday (Saturday) when we were talking to members of the advisory committee, many people said they wanted to go, and there was unanimity that they too would go. We said that anyone who wants to come can join,” he added.
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Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: ‘Will invite everyone’
Talking about the BJNY, Pande said it was not a political yatra and that leaders of all parties with similar ideologies, NGOs and civil society organisations would be invited to join.
Asked if other coalition partners part of the INDIA bloc, like the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), too will be invited, Pande said: “Definitely. This is not a political yatra. Congress is organising it, but many like-minded NGOs and civil society organisations too are supporting this.”
The Congress leader went on to say that when Rahul Gandhi embarked on the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, representatives and leaders of most parties walked with him. “This yatra is not different. It is to seek justice on different issues like concerns of the farmers, labourers, women, unemployed, small traders and financial crisis, etc.”
Pande, however, clarified that: “We will invite everyone, but it is not binding on anyone to join. Yatra will march ahead on time, everyone has extended good wishes.”
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is likely to reach UP on 14 February and is expected to cover several districts of the state by 25 February. “We will try that maximum workers and people from every section of the society participate in the yatra and give a message to the entire country about why Rahul ji is leading the march,” Pande said.
Congress preparation ahead of LS polls
Elaborating on the Congress’ activities ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Pande said the party has started its Samvad Yatra after the end of its UP Jodo Yatra, which concluded Saturday.
“In the first phase, we have started with communication with the media today (Sunday) followed by our general body meeting in which district presidents and all office-bearers of the state unit will be present,” he said.
In the six zones, district presidents, block presidents, district committee members and heads of frontal outfits, will be participating in the sammelans during the Samvad Yatra, he added.
“On 14 January, I, along with the state president and district presidents, will start a Mashaal Nyay Yatra, which will move for 5 km around the UPCC headquarters. NGOs and civil society will also remain present,” said Pande.
As part of the Samvad Yatra, programmes will be held at the district level between 18 and 24 January when district-level office bearers, panchayat heads and block heads will remain present, he said.
According to Pande, between January 25 and 26, panchayat meetings will be held in which social workers will participate to gain support for the BJNY yatra.
“On 26 January, Congress leaders across districts would take out a yatra with Tricolour in one hand and Congress flags in another. On 30 January, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, party leaders will move around the district HQ playing the Ram dhun,” he said.
Asked about the Congress reaching out to Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati to join the INDIA bloc, Pande said the coordination committee of the alliance formed in Mumbai is reaching out to all political parties with similar ideological inclinations, and a decision will be taken with consensus depending on the political situations in different states.
“If there are debates or differences in ideas, they are being studied and taken to a logical end. I don’t want to comment on what is being printed in newspapers, but one thing I want to say, under the INDIA alliance, all political parties are trying to project a single candidate against the BJP, and for that, every party has expressed that they will extend as much support they can. Leaders of INDIA alliance are talking with this in mind,” Pande added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)