NEW DELHI: Congress on Wednesday announced that party leader Rahul Gandhi‘s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in Indore has been postponed from September 12 to September 19 after the state government denied permission to hold it at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, rejected Congress’ allegations, saying the decision was based on an old Madhya Pradesh high court order that permits only sports activities and state-level government programmes at the stadium.Congress accused BJP government of denying permission because it was “afraid” of Rahul’s programme, while BJP leaders alleged that opposition party was making excuses to cover up its inability to mobilise students.State Congress president Jitu Patwari said the event would now be held on September 19 and that party would identify a new venue and make arrangements accordingly.Congress is seeking to mobilise around 50,000 students from Indore and neighbouring areas for the programme.Harish Chaudhary, All India Congress Committee in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, alleged that BJP government was “afraid” of Rahul’s programme and therefore did not allow the event to be held at Nehru Stadium.BJP state unit co-media in-charge Alok Dubey rejected the charge, claiming that Rahul’s programme was not receiving support from students.“Our government is following an old HC order regarding Nehru Stadium,” Dubey said.The stadium is controlled by Indore Municipal Corporation. Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said civic body could permit only sports activities or state-level government programmes there in accordance with the High Court order.Bhargava also alleged that Congress was aware that it would not be able to mobilise a large crowd for the programme and was therefore making excuses.Before announcing the change in date, Patwari had written to chief minister Mohan Yadav seeking permission to use the stadium on September 12.
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In his letter, Patwari argued that Rahul’s programme was not a conventional political event but a public dialogue on issues including the country’s future, aspirations of young people, the right to education and the security of the education system.‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ is a student-dialogue campaign launched by Congress, with programmes being organised across cities to raise issues such as examination paper leaks, expensive education, irregularities in government recruitment and unemployment.Over the past three months, Congress has held the campaign in Kota in Rajasthan, Dehradun in Uttarakhand, Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and Pune in Maharashtra.
