‘Homi Bhabha’ had a kabaddi match against ‘C V Raman’ here.
These were the names of two teams in the regional kabaddi tournament which Congress MP Rahul Gandhi inaugurated today.
Homi Bhabha is also a useful entry point in a debate on the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement and serves the dual purpose of creating a debate where there is none.
But, in his first visit to his constituency after the trust vote on July 22, Gandhi has had to face no questions whatsoever on a matter which represented the single biggest issue of turmoil for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in New Delhi.
Instead, all that the villagers want to know is updates on the various development projects in their area.
Sensing the local pulse, Gandhi today held an hour-long special session on healthcare facilities as he met the villagers at the guest house of Sanjay Gandhi hospital, the medical centre run by a trust headed by Sonia Gandhi. He also had a separate meet on water and roads.
According to villagers, the young Gandhi is attaching a lot of importance to healthcare these days. A complete eye check-up is available at the hospital only for Rs 30. Vehicles are available to pick up patients from their home and bring them to the hospital. More serious cases are referred to AIIMS in Delhi.
Earlier, Kaushal Kishore extracted a promise from Gandhi that a 2-km all-weather road would be constructed in his village. Some also asked the young MP to influence the railway minister to halt two long-distance trains at the Akbarganj station.
Politics? Yes, that is there as well. Gandhi today held special sessions with party workers and supporters seeking their “suggestions” on how to conduct polls. Surendra Shukla asked him about the alliance with the Samajwadi Party. The answer came: “Congress president will decide on that.”
Ranjit Singh demanded Priyanka Gandhi should contest from the Sultanpur constituency this time. “Talk to Priyanka about this,” Gandhi replied.
The young Gandhi holds darbar like any other politician but his management style has become different. Printed forms are given to the villagers to give personal details and tick-mark their demands from the long list of category and sub-category of works.
In case Gandhi meets someone impromptu (which he does quite often), his closest aide, Kanishk Singh, is there to take notes. As this is a 21st century Indian village, Singh doesn’t forget to ask the guest the last question: “What is your mobile number?”
