Highlight 'burning issues' of farm distress and unemployment: Rahul to Congress office-bearers

NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday asked senior office-bearers of the party to aggressively raise the Modi government's "dictatorial style" of governance and "burning issues" such as farm distress and unemployment in the Lok Sabha poll campaign.

Two days after meeting All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretaries and state in-charges, Gandhi held a meeting with the party's state unit presidents and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders here and discussed the party's strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

In the meeting, the Congress chief said the candidate selection process should be more inclusive and participation of maximum party stakeholders and workers should be ensured.

He also instructed the leaders to complete the candidate selection process as soon as possible, according to a statement released by the Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation.

Gandhi urged state unit chiefs and Legislature Party leaders to expose the "anti-farmers, anti-youth, anti-women and anti-people" policies of the Modi government.

He stressed on highlighting in the party's campaign the "burning issues of unemployment, farmers distress, sabotage of constitutional bodies, misuse of the institutions and investigative agencies".

Gandhi stated during the meeting that the "dictatorial style" of governance should be highlighted in the campaign, the statement said.

The Congress chief asked those present in the meeting to take up all the issues against the BJP aggressively and highlight the "failures" of the government, a source said.

He also emphasised that the pro-people policies proposed by the Congress party such as the minimum income guarantee programme should be taken to the people across the country, the statement said.

The state unit chiefs were asked to focus on state-oriented major issues and to suggest them to the AICC Manifesto Committee, the statement said.

"Today I met with our CLP Leaders & PCC Chiefs from all over India to review our election preparedness & strategy in each state.

We discussed a wide range of issues related to the upcoming elections.

I thank all those who came to Delhi to attend this meeting," Gandhi tweeted after the meeting.

  Senior leaders such as Ahmed Patel, Rajasthan Chief Minister and Legislature Party leader Ashok Gehlot, and Deputy Chief Minister and Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot were among those present in the meeting.

On Thursday, Gandhi had directed AICC general secretaries and in-charges of various states to finalise candidates for the Lok Sabha polls by February-end and asked newly appointed Uttar Pradesh in-charges Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jyotiraditya Scindia to strengthen the party in the state on "mission-mode".

Earlier, Gandhi had said that new faces should be given precedence over those who have lost the elections 2-3 times while selecting candidates.