Nurturing hopes that women and 'soft Hindutva' could help her party regain lost grounds in Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly poll was scheduled to be held in March next year, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday sought to liken the BJP to the 'Kauravas' (characters in Mahabharata) and exhorted the women to recognise their might and come forward to protect their interests.
''Suno Draupadi shastra uthalo, Ab Govind na ayenge...Kaisi raksha maang rahi ho Dusshshan ke darbaron se'' (take the arms Draupadi as Lord Krishna will not come now...you should not expect anyone to protect you in the court of Dusshashan), Priyanka said, quoting from a poem by Hindi poet Pushyamitra Upadhyaya, while speaking to the women on the bank of the sacred Mandakini river in the border district of Chitrakoot, about 350 kilometres from here.
In the epic 'Mahabharata', Lord Krishan came to the rescue of Draupadi, the wife of the 'Pandavas', when Dusshashan, one of the 'Kauravas', tried to strip her in the court of Dhritrashtra, the king of Hastinapur.
Priyanka, who had earlier declared that her party would come out with a separate manifesto for the women, also promised to set up a Commission for women's safety comprising only women members.
Standing on a boat in Mandakini river at the famous Ramghat in Chitrakoot, the Congress leader initiated the dialogue by telling the women, many of whom operated self-help groups in the villages, about the policies and programs launched by the Congress in the states ruled by the party. She also inquired about the well being of the women and the problems being faced by them.
The women told Priyanka about the difficulties being faced by them in performing their duties. ''Our remuneration was not increased despite protests and agitation though we worked tirelessly during the Covid 19 pandemic,'' an Anganwadi worker told Priyanka.
Some women told her that their sacrifices were not recognised by the BJP regime in the state. Priyanka assured them that their problems would be resolved in the event of her party coming to power after the next assembly polls in UP.
The Congress leader also visited the famous Kamtanath Temple in Chitrakoot besides paying obeisance at Swami Matysagajendranath Temple.
The Congress leader had earlier announced that 40 per cent reservation would be given to the women in the appointment for the new posts in the government departments and also promised a widow pension of one thousand rupees per month.
Priyanka had also promised to increase the wages of the Anganwadi and Asha workers to Rs 10 thousand, free rides for the women in government buses and three free gas cylinders in a year besides setting up 75 skill schools across the state in the names of women icons of the state.
The Congress leader had already declared that her party would give 40 per cent tickets to the women in the next assembly polls.
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