Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress on Saturday launched its NGO 'Gujarat Jansangharsh Sena', comprising leading social activists, even as the ruling BJP termed it as a "pitiful bid" by the opposition party to stay "politically relevant" in the state.
"A meeting was held under the chairmanship of social rights activists Prakash N Shah, Hemantkumar Shah, Indukumar Jani and Sanjay Joshi in Tagore Hall at Paldi Area of Ahmedabad. It was decided to form 'Gujarat Jansangharsh Sena' in the presence of the huge crowd, comprising youth and women along with representatives of various social organisations," said former Congress MP Jagdish Thakor.
The forum has decided to take up the issues and problems of people before the Gujarat government and has also showed commitment to launch various programmes to raise voice against "insensitivity" by the state, he said in a statement.
On the occasion, rights activist and senior journalist Prakash Shah accused the BJP-led Central government of "playing communal politics." "The BJP government in Delhi has grown with the ideals of narrowed nationalism. It has no time to listen to the issues of common people. The recent incidents of riots in Uttar Pradesh is the latest example of the way BJP people are playing the politics of communalism and polarisation," Shah said.
Another activist from the city, Indukumar Jani said that number of farmers as well as overall agricultural land has been steadily decreasing in the state since last few years.
"Agricultural land and the number of farmers in Gujarat have been decreased in last few years. Villages are destroyed. Commercialisation of education is at its peak. This is the high time to speak against all these issues," Jani said.
A city-based professor and activist Hemantkumar Shah alleged that Gujarat tops in the country in child labour, with a total of 32.15 per cent child labourers working in the state.
When contacted, BJP state spokesperson Harshad Patel told PTI that the Congress' exercise is "pitiful" and a desperate attempt to stay political relevant in the state.
Congress could not succeed in reaching out to people in Gujarat in last 13 years. Their (Congress') voice remained unheard by the people of Gujarat, so now with the help of other organisations they are trying to prove their existence in state. We feel only pity about them," Patel said.
On the accusation of playing communal politics, he said, "the mandate we got from people in Lok Sabha polls proved that people of the country have rejected politics of appeasement by Congress party and they chose the politics of development practised by us (BJP)."
Gujarat state Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi had claimed that the party-backed organisation would be handled like an independent NGO rather than a sister concern of the
party.
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