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The move assumes significance in background of the Congress losing all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 general elections. With this agitation Congress seems to be trying to rejuvenate its cadre and readying it for the assembly bye-elections for the empty seats.
“The Congress party in gearing up for a state-wide agitation soon. The main issues will be of corruption by the state government over the past 15 years in extending largesse to industrialists and ignoring the poor farmers,” said senior Congress leader and leader of the opposition in the Gujarat assembly Shankarsinh Vaghela. He said that workers are being trained to raise various issue especially those topic that have figured in the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
“There will be series of agitation in the coming days where the issues raised by CAG will be highlighted. Exercise is on across the state to bring the workers together. We are having meeting of workers from Saurashtra and south Gujarat on August 14 and August 16 respectively,” Vaghela said.
The senior Congress leader has been highlighting number of issues highlighted by the CAG in its latest report tabled in the state assembly last month. Vaghela alleged that instead of focusing on increasing government’s own power generation capacity the BJP government was slowly and systematically closing down state-run power plants.
He claimed this was being down to favour number of industrial houses be it Essar, Reliance or Adani. “While the government purchases power at higher rates from private players during peak season, it ignores the farmers who is in want of power connections,” Vaghela added.
“The government says that Gujarat was a power surplus state, but it is not the government that has surplus power, but the private player are generating more power which the state government purchases at higher cost. But when it comes to providing subsidy to farmers for power, the state government looks the other way,” he alleged.
The Congress leader said there were number of irregularities and favourism done to big industrial houses by the BJP government, that has come out in the CAG report. These issues will also be raised by his party during the agitation.
Vaghela had earlier alleged that Gujarat government, when Narendra Modi was chief minister, had favoured billionaire Gautam Adani promoted Adani Group to set up private port at Mundra in Kutch district. He claimed that the state government did not adhere to the Port Policy of 1995 and sold off its stake to the Adani Group leading to establishment of a private port which was originally conceived under the port police as a joint venture port.
He had also claimed that the BJP government had favoured industrial houses like Reliance and Essar in setting up jetties along the Gujarat coast.
