by PANKAJ
SHARMA
It will not take Rahul Gandhi more than 100 days to lay
a solid foundation of Congress' revival if he decides to link the rivers. Seems
a joke? Finds funny? But be little serious and go to the road map I am
suggesting.
Rahul must plan a
nationwide tour to revive the Congress party and begin its first phase from
'Ganga to Sabarmati' on the day of Makar Sankranti on 14 January, the
day Sun moves to Capricorn and becomes uttarayan. Makar Sankranti commemorates
the beginning of the harvest season and announces the arrival of colourful vasant
in our country. River Ganga is considered sacred and finds mention from Bhagwat
Purana to Skand Purana and Rigveda
too. Sabarmati river also has a rich history that is spread over from Aravalli
Hills to Arebian Sea. During this 1400 km long journey Rahul can cross 4 states
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajsthan and Gujarat. He can interact thousands
of people en route that can cover the areas of Mirzapur, Allahabad, Banda,
Jhansi, Shivpuri, Baran, Kota, Chittorgarh, Udaipur and Himmat Nagar before
reaching to Gandhi Nagar. Starting a road journey from Varanasi that
reaches Ahmedabad on 30 January, the day Mahatma Gandhi was killed, Rahul would
be able to rejuvenate thousands of Congress workers.
Then can come the second
phase of 'Congress Kayakalp'. Let this time Rahul Gandhi link the rivers
Narmada and Kaveri. Narmada is fifth longest river in Indian subcontinent and
third longest that flows entirely within our country. It originates from
Amarkantak and forms the traditional boundary between North India and South
India. The name Narmada means giver of pleasure. Kaveri river has its
origin in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. Legends tell us that Kaveri was born
as daughter of Brahma, the creator of universe. Kaveri has served as a
lifeline for centuries to the ancient kingdoms and modern cities of South
India. The journey can begin from the tribal area of Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh
and end at Thanjavur in Tamilnadu, where asur Tanjan was killed by God
Neelmegha Perumal. This 1800 km route covers 7 states--Madhya Pradesh,
Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamilnadu.
The areas of Raipur, Nagpur, Wardha, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Hyderabad, Anantpur,
Banglore and Salem could be covered on the way.
Third phase of Rahul's
venture can link 'Chenab to Chambal'--from Srinagar in J&K to Mhow in
Madhya Pradesh covering the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajsthan.
Chenab river is known to us from Vedik period and reminds us of the love
tales of Heer-Ranjha and Sohni-Mahiwal. What river Chenab is for
us is like Danube for Hungarians and Austrians or Rhine for Germans. Chambal
river originates from Manpur, near Mhow, the birth place of
Baba Sahab Bheem Rao Ambedkar and finds mention in our ancient
scriptures. Rahul can measure this 2000 km long route by crossing the towns of
historical importance Udhampur, Dharmshala, Pathankot, Amritsar, Faridkot,
Bathinda, Hanumangarh, Ratangarh, Ajmer, Nasirabad, Bhilwara, Mandsaur, Ratlam,
Badnawar, Ujjain and Indore.
Here comes the fourth and
last phase. It could be for linking the rivers of Yamuna and Brahmputra.
Yamuna, the largest tributary of Ganga, is mentioned at many places in Rigveda
and Atharvaveda. While the Ganga is
considered an epitome of asceticism and higher knowledge and can grant us Moksha or liberation, it is Yamuna, who, being a holder of infinite love and
compassion, can grant us freedom. Brahmputra is a trans-boundary river and
perhaps the only river in our country that has a male name whereas all other
major rivers have female names. According to legends, Brahmputra is the son of
Lord Brahma. Let Rahul Gandhi cover a distance of around 2100 km from Delhi to
Guwahati for giving a final boost to his political army. He will be passing
through Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam in this phase if
he decides to take a 'Discovery of India' tour. The final leg of his endeavour
can surely refill the areas like Faridabad, Mathura, Vrandavan, Aligarh, Etah,
Mainpuri, Kannauj, Lucknow, Faizabad, Basti, Gorakhpur, Darbhanga, Forbesganj,
Basantpur, Khairabari, Jalpaiguri, Gosaigaon and Bongaigaon with new energies.
This way,
Rahul Gandhi would be able to cover 18 states while travelling around 7500
kilometres which might take him only 75 days in total and take
it from me that he can infuse a entirely new life in the decaying body of the
great movement called Congress after 129 years of its inception. Rahul must
remember that he is the great grandson of
Jawaharlal Nehru who travelled around fifty thousand miles in provincial
assembly elections in the winters of 1936-37 to create a strong foundation of
the Congress party using aircrafts, trains, cars, elephants, camels, horses and
bullock carts. Elections were held in eleven provinces of British
India--Punjab, Sindh, Bengal, North West Frontier Province, Bihar, Orissa,
Central Provinces, United Provinces, Madras, Bombay Presidency and Assam--after
mandated by Government of India Act in 1935.
Results were declared in February 1937 and Indian National Congress
formed the governments in eight provinces. Bengal, Punjab and Sindh did not go
with Congress, but Muhammad Ali Jinnah's All India Muslim League failed to win
any province. Nehru himself wrote about all this mentioning how he always used
to keep a loudspeaker with him and a minimum crowed of twenty thousand gathered
everywhere to listen to him and there were many occasions when he addressed the
gathering of one lac people.
The actions of the
Congress party must inspire others to dream more and do more. This is not the
time to find faults. This is the time to find remedies. Rahul Gandhi has the
tremendous hidden potential of a faithful, sincere and trustworthy influence on
people. Rahul Gandhi has already spent a long time understanding the politics
of India as well as his own party and it is not necessary for him to wait till
his black hair turn grey to openly show that he is serious to lead the Congress
party from front and sooner the better when his senior and junior colleagues
realise the metal he is made of.
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