Bhubaneswar: Life is coming full circle for Banita Podha. Twenty-three years after she was promised help by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, this family in Bolangir district of Orissa remains just as powerless as it was in 1985, just as dependent on help now as they were then.
23 years later, another member of the Congress' first family is raising hopes here. As Rahul Gandhi starts his four-day tour of Orissa on Friday, Banita pins her hopes on him.
"Though Rajiv Gandhi is no more, his son and wife are very powerful. I plead with them to rescue me from this poverty. At least help me get my own house and land so that I can feed my family,” Banita says.
Banita was all of 14 when Rajiv Gandhi toured the area. Acute poverty had forced her sister-in-law to sell her to a visually challenged man, for a Rs 40.
Rajiv got to know the story, visited the place and promised all possible help. Now as his son Rahul prepares to step onto a bigger political stage, it's again the aam aadmi's vote that's being talked of.
Says President, OPCC, Jayadev Jena, "There is nothing that can stop us from winning elections."
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik too is in high spirits. "Many top leaders in the Congress have visited the state in the past but that has not put any impact on the voters in the past one decade,” he says.
It was a day after he addressed a public meeting here that Rajiv was assassinated at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.
Rahul is expected to unveil a memorial in his father's name, and return to Delhi after re-energising the party cadre.
Comments
0 comment