Praniti appeals to voters to not to fall for BJP’s strategy of polarisation

On Thursday, Praniti started early in the morning at 8 am for her campaign and her visit began in Kajal covering 11 villages till afternoon.

Dressed in light colour salwar kameez to beat the extreme heat, Praniti sat in the front seat of a black SUV, greeting people with folded hands.

In Sindkhed village with nearly 1,000 voters, she was welcomed by villagers with the beating of drums and bursting of firecrackers. She straightaway headed towards the lawn of a government school, where a small corner meeting was organised where she was garlanded by the village women.

The villagers quickly raised the issue of water woes. “The village is facing a huge water crisis and it should be resolved on a priority,” a villager said.

As she listened to villagers, her supporters distributed pamphlets of the manifesto for Solapur prepared by Shinde and the Congress. She then addressed the gathering of around 100 villagers, mostly men, and said the reservation for Maratha and Dhangar community is among the major issues on which the BJP had cheated the community. If this was not enough, the farmers are also suffering due to the wrong policies of the BJP government, she said.

“The villagers had a small demand to resolve their water woes but those in power in the last ten years used them to gain power and merely enjoy power,” Praniti said. The BJP was unable to decide their candidate for long and finally got an outsider to contest in Solapur, she said.

The half-an-hour meeting ended with a lot of applause and assurance of voters to stand by her after which she headed to Motyal village.

The small meeting at Motyal village was in a temple building where as well only men of all ages were in attendance. Praniti recalled the assurances made by the BJP in the last 10 years and asked “how many of you got Rs 15 lakh in your accounts or a job”. As there was no response, she said the Congress has a lot in store for the poor of the country as assured in the manifesto. “You should not forget the big assurances made by the BJP and their failure to fulfill them as you go for voting. You should not forget the good work the Congress did for the you in the past,” she said.

Praniti said the BJP has not done any work and only been polarising voters. “They don’t talk about work to hide their failures. People should not fall for their false assurances anymore. I will make most of the opportunity given to me by voters,” she said.

The Congress candidate said she is not scared of the ED or any other agencies being used by the BJP against rivals. “I will alone fight for you and you just vote for me,” she said as voters raised slogans in favour of her. However, she avoided the media during her campaign saying she won’t talk to them now as she was busy with voters.

The next meeting organised at a temple in Bavkarwadi village had villagers waiting for over an hour due to a delayed schedule but the turnout was good and included women as well. Praniti appealed to voters saying the BJP is seeking votes in the name of Modi. “In the last ten years, you had a BJP MP in Solapur and look at what they have done. There has been no development at all and instead it has taken us backward. Don’t repeat the mistake and think of the candidate you are voting for. Stay united and vote for Congress,” she said as she ended the meeting followed by a few selfies with women.

She then took a break for lunch in the next village before heading to a public rally and ending the first half of the day’s campaign.