Youthful curiosity, campaigning and political career paths come together at a SoBo meet that also saw first-time voters urged to have faith
Madhavi Latha Kompella makes a point. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Youth power and political acumen came together at a meet at K C College, South Mumbai on Thursday afternoon. “The roadmap to Viksit Bharat is an age of Amrit Kaal” stated Dinesh Sharma, former deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, at the interaction under the Vishesh Sampark Abhiyan umbrella. Sharma addressing his audience in a packed ground floor auditorium of the Churchgate college explained, “What do we mean by Amrit Kaal, Viksit Bharat? It means a journey towards independence. We can fulfill our needs on our own. Farmers can double their income through technology and youth find employment, become entrepreneurs through industry. In 2014, we were the 11th largest economy, today we are the fifth largest and by 2030 we should be the third largest economy.”
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Unforgettable poll
Dhairyasheel Mane of the Shiv Sena said at the outset stressing his Grameen roots, “Parliamentarians in rural India are different from urban India. I would like to see a Grameen Viksit Bharat.” He asked his audience, which had many students and substantial first time voters, “How many of you would like to become Parliamentarians one day?” There were three hands that went up. The young leader rued, “There is very little awareness about political participation. We want good people to come into politics.” He told his listeners to some laughs, to go to the polling booths and cast their votes and added philosophically, “You can never forget your first vote, like you can never forget your first love because both are based on trust.”
Dhairyasheel Mane, Shiv Sena. Pic/Anurag Ahire
After that analogy which definitely resonated with the young and the in love, or not yet in love, it was former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh who took the mike and began, “What is Viksit Bharat from a student’s perspective? You must enjoy while you learn, it is not simply about getting a degree. Your education must lead to employment. You should be able to fulfill your ambitions or desires. It must give you name and fame. We are looking at world class education by 2047.” Singh also said he had the advantage of two perspectives, “Earlier I was the police commissioner of Mumbai, today, I am a Parliamentarian, in the former role I had to implement the law, here I am in a role to create a law.”
No appeasement
Madhavi Latha Kompella, BJP candidate from Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency who arrived slightly later into the programme, took some questions answering in forthright, firebrand style. In the interactive session Kompella said about what she would do for women if elected, “I would improve Govt. schools and remove the pressure from women that their child has to be educated in a sometimes vicious private education system. I will try to up employment.” To a question about how one can curb appeasement in Hyderabad, Kompella said, “When one creates an atmosphere of harmony and peace, assure people that everybody will be taken along in the development of the country, then, there is little need for any appeasement. There are many Muslim women who have voted for me.”
The question-answer session also had Sharma answering that, “Those against the current dispensation keep hurling accusations like all the BJP shouts is, mandir, mandir, mandir. You must understand that developing a mandir corridor means schools and hospitals come up around that, there is a surge in tourism, the entire place sees transformation and upliftment. For instance, Ayodhya is not just one solo temple, it is being developed into a modern city.”
Terror, turncoats
A question from a student about why people should trust politicians, who are seen as turncoats changing parties and ideologies received applause. The panellists did not answer the changing ideologies directly but stated once again that people should trust and cast their vote for a pro-development party. There was a question from an audience member for Singh about crime and terrorism. Singh said, “This is a good question. I have worked extensively in Naxal areas and we had 166 Naxal districts earlier and nine States.
Today, I will say that there are two States primarily and Naxalism is 85 per cent over. There have been a couple but no major bomb blasts.” Wrapping up, Kompella told the people to become, “brand ambassadors for the progress and vision you see under the Govt. today. When you come out of that under the sea tunnel and reach your destination in three minutes, which did not happen earlier, do talk about it. When we speak, it is like marketing as we belong to a political party, when you, the people talk, it brings strength and penetrates into the minds of the people,” she signed off.
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