Was ‘Mehangai rally’ too costly for Mumbai Congress?

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the ‘Halla Bol’ rally, in New Delhi on Sunday. Pic/ANI

Are the Congress members in Mumbai lacking the zeal or cash to take on the BJP-led central government? Sources hint at the latter, as merely 250 of the 1,500 party workers, who signed up for the ‘Mehangai Par Halla Bol' rally led by Rahul Gandhi, actually took part.

The Congress had organised the rally in Delhi on Sunday, where Gandhi took on the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inflation, "rising hatred", etc. Sources in the party's Mumbai unit told mid-day that most of the workers could not travel to Delhi because the local leadership did not book their rail tickets.

"Before the rally, the Mumbai Congress prepared a list of nearly 1,500 party workers who were to travel to Delhi. However, the party managed to send close to 250 workers from across the city and its suburbs, as the city leaders were unwilling to bear the cost of their journey," said a party insider.

"Those who participated took the Garib Rath train to Delhi. Each ticket costs around R1,000, and the city Congress unit has spent nearly R3 lakh on single-journey tickets for these workers," said another leader.

"It would have cost around Rs 16 lakh just one way had all 1,500 workers gone to Delhi. Then, there would have been accommodation charges and other expenses. The total estimated budget was around Rs 50 lakh, which was unaffordable in the current situation," he added.

Usually, in a party set-up, funding for such activities comes from the elected representatives. At present, the city does not have corporators, as the civic polls are pending, and it has only four MLAs from Congress. Mumbai Congress's President Bhai Jagtap did not respond to mid-day's calls for comment.

250
No of workers Congress sent to Delhi