Congress to rope in NGOs to target government over failures

By Amit Agnihotri|

Published: 26th August 2018 08:42 AM

Congress President Rahul Gandhi (File | PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Congress is planning to rope in the NGOs to spread its message against the Modi government highlighting issues like corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, demonetisation, GST, joblessness and lynchings. According to party sources, the first task is to convince the NGOs to take up these issues and make people aware about them.“NGOs are non-political bodies. They highlight people’s issues and solve their problems. They can help spread our message,” Mumbai Congress leader Manish Shah told The Sunday Standard.

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A gathering of over 250 NGOs from across the country was planned for August 30 in Mumbai but had to be postponed because of the demise of party veteran Gurudas Kamat. Fresh dates are being worked out, said the local leaders involved in the process. As the party is adopting a novel way to communicate with the voters, party insiders realise not everyone among the NGOs may come on board. “Not all of them may be galvanised into action, but most would believe,” said a senior AICC functionary.

The interaction was the idea of AICC minority department chief Nadeem Javed, who is making efforts to enlist the support of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and others ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Party insiders said the minorities appear to have a lot of apprehensions about the Modi government and the BJP and need to be assured that the Congress would stand by them. Congress managers are desperate to woo back the minorities, once the traditional vote bank of the grand old party who had deserted it over the past several years.