In a frontal attack on the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress on Saturday pointedly blamed the Mayawati government for the prevailing backwardness and poverty in Bundelkhand area.
And to take on the four-year old Mayawati regime, top Congress leaders -- no less than Prime ,inister Manmohan Singh and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi -- descended to Banda to sound their bugle for the state elections slated in mid-2012.
The rally, that was the prime minister's first in Bundelkhand, drew massive crowds that applauded both Singh and Gandhi as soon as they reiterated their commitment to allocate a special package of Rs 7,300 crores for taking up various development programmes in what was termed by them as 'among India's most backward regions.'
Chief Minister Mayawatii on the other hand issued a statement in Lucknow terming the prime minister's announcement of the Bundelkhand package as a 'political stunt' in the wake of the elections ahead.
While narrating his personal experiences with the extent of poverty in the region, the Gandhi scion stressed upon the need for implementation
of the Right to Food.
"The only way to prevent hunger deaths in this poverty ridden area would be by giving people the right to food," Gandhi said while confessing, "I felt so embarrassed when a young local villager told me that his father died because he had no food to eat."
Since part of the Bundelkhand region falls in the adjoining Madhya Pradesh state, the prime minister made it a point to call upon the governments of both states to rise above their political differences and share a hand with the Centre in promoting the larger interest of the badly neglected and impoverished people living in this vast water scarce expanse of Bundelkhand.
"In order to ensure a well coordinated and comprehensive development of the area, we have constituted a special advisory committee under the Planning Commission with all MPs from the Bundelkhand region as its members, who will hold their first meeting on May 20," the prime minister declared.
Both Singh and Gandhi made it a point to highlight how much they were concerned for the development of Bundelkhand. "Isn't it ironical that the government sitting 465 km away in New Delhi could feel the pain and suffering of the people living in Banda, while those sitting in Lucknow, that was barely 200 km apart, were oblivious of the plight of those very masses," Gandhi lamented.
"I am grateful to those people from Bundelkhand who urged me to come down and see for myself how the poor people of this region lived," he said, while adding, "and I must admit that if I had not taken the initiative to get a first hand experience, I would have never understood their true plight."
Accusing the state government of apathy, indifference, he did not mince words in pointing out how development funds were pilfered and the poor were deprived of their rights in Uttar Pradesh.
"It is shocking to learn that the poor farmer does not get three-fourth of the procurement price fixed by the Central government for his produce," Gandhi said, while citing the example of the wheat procurement price of Rs 1170 that was being blatantly denied to them.
While referring to the quality of roads, he said, "I can see more of potholes in the name of roads."
He also alleged large scale bungling in issue of Below Poverty Line ration cards and job cards under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Responding to the issues raised by local Congress MLA Vivek Singh, who was also responsible for organising the impressive show, the prime minister announced several specific programmers for the Bundelkhand region.
These included a Rs 200 crore drinking water scheme, a 500 MW enhancement of power allocation, besides setting up of a central agricultural university to facilitate improved agriculture in this water scarce region through augmentation of better irrigation facilities.
Earlier, while speaking on the occasion, UP Congress Legislature Party chief Pramod Tiwari gave a call to the people to oust the BSP from power at the next election.
"BSP ko harao; Samajwadi Party ko hatao; BJP to bhagao aur Congress ko lao," was the new slogan he coined.
State Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi welcomed the guests. The programme was attended by central ministers from UP including Pradeep Jain Aditya, Jitin Prasada , R P N Singh, Shree Prakash Jaiswal besides prominent MPs including P L Punia who is chairman of the National Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission as well as AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, currently incharge of UP Congress affairs.
