Gujarat Assembly election 2017: Congress ropes in Sam Pitroda to get people's inputs for its manifesto

Pitroda is a close associate of the Gandhi family who has been credited with bringing about a telecommunication revolution in India. He heads the Congress' overseas wing.

 

Supriya Bhardwaj  | Edited by Ganesh Kumar Radha Udayakumar
Ahmedabad, November 9, 2017 | UPDATED 17:21 IST
Sam PitrodaSam Pitroda

Highlights

  • 1
    Sam Pitroda heads the Congress' overseas wing
  • 2
    He will gather people's inputs for the party's Gujarat election manifesto
  • 3
    He will visit five cities - Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Jamnagar

The Congress has roped in technocrat Sam Pitroda to run People's Manifesto - a five-day-long marathon meeting drive in Gujarat that will help the Grand Old Party gather people's inputs for the its election manifesto.

Pitroda is a close associate of the Gandhi family who has been credited with bringing about a telecommunication revolution in India. He heads the Congress' overseas wing.

Pitroda will visit five cities -  Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Jamnagar. He and other Congress leaders will meet people from various walks of life, and discuss key manifesto issues such as education, health, SMEs, employment, environment, farmers issues and housing.

"In the next five days, our main task is to listen to people. We will visit five cities and will reach out to people asking them what they want. This input will be used not just to fine tune party's manifesto to make it real peoples manifesto...but it will also help create feedback bank for party," Pitroda said.

Sources said that in organising these meetings, the Congress wants to drive home the point that it listens to the people, and that the BJP doesn't.

DEVELOPMENT FROM THE BOTTOM UP

The Congress, led by its vice-president, Rahul Gandhi, is already attacking the famous 'Gujarat development model.'

"It's time to think about development from bottom up. Congress in Gujarat would go for a bottom up development model in which focus will be on the poor, farmers and small and medium enterprises, and not a top down model of development," said Pitroda

He said his role wouldn't be limited to preparing the manifesto.

"I don't hold a political position neither do I want one. But if Congress gets elected in Gujarat, I will be there to force the people in power to do things that we promise in our manifesto."

Pitroda said India was "at a crossroads."

"Democracy has been hijacked. We have to bring democracy back to India," he said.

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