Congress’ new cell a platform for dissenters

The party would include the issues raised by those “dissenting voices” in its party manifesto and would also field them in elections on a Congress ticket if they were keen to contest.

congress, activists, cong may field activits in elections, congress to give platform to dissenters, Rahul gandhi, Ahmedabad, Indian Express

Madhusudan Mistry is the chief of the new cell of the Congress.

Stating that an atmosphere is being created in the country to “supress people who do not agree with the State”, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Madhusudan Mistry on Sunday said that the newly formed Civic & Social Outreach Cell of the Congress will provide a platform to such “dissenting voices” in the society like NGOs and civil rights organisations.

Mistry, who has been appointed as the chairman of the cell by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, also said that the party would include the issues raised by those “dissenting voices” in its party manifesto and would also field them in elections on a Congress ticket if they were keen to contest.

“There are many people in the country who run their voluntary initiatives by establishing organisations…They work on different issues that include government’s policy on development, education, health, women, children. Some of these people do not agree with the State (on certain issues) and present alternative or what we say dissenting voice… It has been seen that attempts are being made to suppress such dissenting voices who do not agree with the State. So, to ensure that such voices are heard and to facilitate the process, the Congress has formed this cell,” Mistry told mediapersons in Ahmedabad.

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He added that the Congress has formed the new cell to make sure that such “dissenting voices” do not get deserted or suppressed and can do their work fearlessly.

“Today, an atmosphere is being created in the country that is posing a great challenge to the basic rights enshrined under the Constitution like right to assemble, right to speech, right to dissent, right to live in any part of the country, right to work in any part of the country. It is a big question, if the current capacity of voluntary organisations will remain in days to come,” the senior Congress leader who had contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, added.

According to Mistry, the new cell will soon begin meeting representaives of various NGOs and civil rights workers in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha and UP.

“Ahead of the 2019 elections, we have planned to meet all such social organisations to understand their causes and problems. We may also include their issues in the poll manifesto. The party can also consider giving tickets to some of the them,” Mistry said.

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Mistry referred to Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel’s recent indefinite fast and said that it was unacceptable that people were not being allowed to meet him. Calling this act of Gujarat government as a misuse of power, Mistry said, “The BJP has been trying to suppress all such people’s voices to remain in power.”

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