New Delhi, Jun 27: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has said the Congress wants to strengthen the tribal community socially by politically empowering them with position, voice and support within the party.
In a meeting with the representatives of the tribal society a few days ago at his residence, Gandhi discussed their problems and later shared a video of the interaction in which he is heard saying, “We want to develop tribal leadership in the Congress across the country.”
“I want to help the tribals for which the community will have to get united and those actually fighting for the rights of the tribals need to come forward. We want to strengthen Adivasi leaders and want 10-15 tribal leaders should emerge in every state,” Gandhi told the tribal representatives.
About the meeting, the former Congress chief said that he assured the representatives that he stood with them in this “fight”.
“My goal is to strengthen them socially by giving them political power, which will begin by giving them position, voice and support within the Congress party,” Gandhi said during the meeting.
In a post shared on his WhatsApp channel, he also said, “Their struggle for water, forest, land and constitutional rights continues – whether it is social injustice or land being snatched away by digitisation, the tribals of the country continue to suffer.”
Gandhi said the Congress has started the process of appointing new district presidents through the ‘Sangthan Srujan Abhiyan’ while keeping in mind the inclusiveness and participation of tribal and the Bahujan society.
“We started this initiative from Gujarat and Congress will implement it in every state. In the coming times, when their strong and united voice resonates in power, no one will be able to stop the change in the current circumstances,” the former Congress president said.
Gandhi had met the tribal representatives on June 23 at his residence.
Vikrant Bhuria, the chairman of the All India Adivasi Congress, said tribal representatives from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand were present during the meeting where Gandhi assured them that the community, especially the youth, would get preference in party tickets in tribal districts. (PTI)
