For nine years, Cong worker sends same letter to Sonia seeking job

“The decent jobs are for those who have money. Everywhere I went, they asked for Rs 40,000 to Rs 1,00,000 as bribes,” said Gangadeen, a resident of Bhawanipur in Dalmau block of Rae Bareli.

After his first letter to Sonia in 2006, Gangadeen had sent another one through Congress’ Dalmau block president Rakesh Jaiswal in 2007. A couple of years later, he sent a letter through party MLA Ashok Singh. Three years ago, he had handed over a letter himself to Sonia when she came to attend a programme at the ITI in Rae Bareli. In between, he continued mailing her the same letter by post. “At the ITI, she had assured me of a job,” says Gangadeen, who is also a Congress worker.

“I have one bigha of land, but the return for investment is becoming worse with each season… I had also worked at a private real estate firm on a commission basis, but it suffered losses and shut down two years ago. I was not paid my commission,” he added.

After meeting Sonia on Thursday, Gangadeen said: “I fell to Soniaji’s feet and asked for help. The guards rushed in and asked me to stand up. K L Sharma (Sonia’s representative) then asked if I a needed a job and I nodded. He said they can’t give a job and that I will have to find one on my own. Soniaji stayed quiet the entire time.”

At home, besides his wife, Gangadeen has five children to support — Mamta Devi (20), Raj Kumar (17), Rajesh Kumar (15), Poonam (12) and Anamika (6). “I don’t know what I will do now,” he said.