GUWAHATI: Ahead of the Assembly elections in Assam, the Congress has launched a contest on social media, asking people to make two-minute videos on the biggest issues plaguing the state.
The Opposition party has also announced attractive prizes, ranging from cash to iPhones, for the best videos, saying that the most relevant issues would be incorporated in the party’s poll manifesto.
Launching the campaign, named ‘Assam Bachao’, here on Tuesday, Congress MP and head of the party’s manifesto committee, Gaurav Gogoi, said, “The first step to solve a problem is to acknowledge and understand a problem. This campaign is for that first step.”
“The feedback from this campaign will tell us what the most urgent issues to be taken up in our manifesto are. The Congress party’s manifesto shall offer solutions to these problems,” Gogoi said.
The contest will run till February 19, 2021. Participants have to post the video along with the (hashtag) #AssamBachao on any major social media platform and then submit its link through www.AssamBachao.in
“The prizes are to incentivise creativity among the youth of the state. It is time for the youth to take charge of their own future and save the state from the BJP’s evil designs,” the Congress MP said.
“From sky-high prices of essential items to the BJP’s plans to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) against the people’s wishes, the saffron party has decided to ruin both peace and prosperity in Assam,” he said
“This video campaign is a call to the people to bring all the issues facing the state and the people to the discussion table. This is important because the BJP does not want them to discuss these issues,” Gogoi said.
Sources said that the Congress leaders and workers across Assam too can participate in the campaign.
“This is just the first step. Congress is gearing up for an innovative campaign that will bring out the people’s resentment against the BJP’s misrule,” Assam Pradesh Congress Congress (APCC) president Ripun Bora said.
“The BJP’s attempts to muzzle the people’s voices with intimidation and fear psychosis won’t last till polling day. The people will show through the ‘Assam Bachao’ campaign how desperate the state is for change,” Bora said.