Our Bureau
TURA/NONGSTOIN/SHILLONG: Seeking votes for the Congress, AICC vice president and scion of the famed Nehru-Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, addressed three election rallies in Meghalaya.
Rahul began by addressing a rally at Williamnagar in East Garo Hills District, followed by a rally at Mawkyrwat in South West Khasi Hills and finally a mammoth rally at Nongpoh in Ri Bhoi District.
The rallies were meant to add further weight to the Congress campaign in the State for the ensuing election.
Speaking at the rally at Williamnagar, Rahul emphasized on the need for development in the State and highly praised the rate at which various progressive and developmental works are being implemented throughout the State under the leadership of Dr Mukul Sangma. Pointing out that the state of politics in India is not inclusive enough he expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the present Indian Polity considering the huge gap between the politicians and the common man.
“Power is concentrated in the hands of the few and this has been leading to problems in development,” Rahul said, adding that Congress plans to change this trend and lessen the gap between the leaders and the common man.
Addressing Dr Mukul Sangma as a young and dynamic leader, Rahul said that he could guarantee that Dr Sangma would lead Meghalaya into becoming one of the fastest growing states in India.
Expressing confidence that Congress would come to power to form the next government in Meghalaya, he exhorted the Chief Minister to be more aggressive to develop the State and cut out corruption.
Speaking at the rally in Mawkyrwat, Rahul expressed his gratitude to the tribals of the State for their ‘gift of democrary’ to the rest of the world.
“I talked to a leader of a local traditional institution who told me that the tribals here have been practising democracy before the rest of the world came to know about the concept,” Rahul said.
A 6000-plus crowd came to watch India’s youth icon who was campaigning to rally support for five-time MLA and Deputy Chief Minister Rowell Lyngdoh.
Interestingly, Rahul’s father and late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had campaigned for Rowell Lyngdoh in 1988, but he had lost the election that year. It was his first election on a Congress ticket after having being elected from the HSPDP three times in a row since 1972.
The Congress vice president expressed unhappiness over the corrupt practices in politics and said, “We need more and more people to join politics to free the system from the menace of corruption. We want young people whose hearts pain on seeing a poor person or a bad road.”
Admitting the difficulty the people of Mawkyrwat were facing during medical emergency, he said, “There is a 100-bedded hospital here but that is not enough and people have to rush to Shillong sometimes.”
“Our party will try to address this problem,” he assured.
He also promised to take steps to boost educational infrastructure in the newly-created district so that people from the area would not need to go to places like Bangalore or Delhi or even Shillong for higher education.
Meanwhile, the Gandhi scion, who landed two hours late at Nongpoh, urged the youths to be a part of the country’s political system to take India to new heights of development.
Addressing a massive rally of over 15,000 people at Nongpoh, Rahul said, “We need to open the doors of the political system for youths who understand the need of Meghalaya in future.”
He also urged the youths of the State to help the Congress build a better Meghalaya.
Praising the youths of the North East region, Rahul said they have been largely successful in the entire country.
“When I see the youths of the region working in Delhi and Bangalore, I feel nice. They are working there because they are capable and can compete with the best,” he told the gathering.
Rahul was also of the view that the Congress has capable leaders and the party needed to produce the next generation of leaders from different states to take the country forward.
“Meghalaya may be small in size compared to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, but it is an important State,” he stated.
Claiming that the Congress did not stand for any particular tribe or religion, Rahul said that the party’s agenda was to work for every single citizen living in the country.
The Congress leader also said that a lot needs to be done so far as tourism and road connectivity are concerned in the State even and emphasized on the need for education to reach every nook and corner of the country so as to provide a bright future for the children.