Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi made an impromptu visit to Kerala's state capital on Tuesday night to see the protest pavilions of the PSC rank holders and Youth Congress workers, who have been holding an indefinite protest over the past several weeks. Going from one protest pavilion to another, Rahul Gandhi met with the protesters directly to hear their concerns.
In recent days, rank holders of various exams of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Youth Congress workers have been protesting in front of the Kerala Secretariat with various demands, including extension of the rank list as their prime objective. The state capital has also seen protests by the Youth Congress workers turn violent in some instances.
Rahul Gandhi had been in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala-led ‘Aishwarya Kerala Yatra’s’ culmination at Shangumugham. Rahul initially visited the protest pavilions of the PSC rank holders, after which he met the Youth Congress workers. Rahul was accompanied by Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Shashi Tharoor MP and All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary KC Venugopal. Rahul Gandhi's visit will possibly give a new reach to the protesters and their demands.
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"There is only one way to fight nepotism.Hunger strike. But the CM is not going to talk to you. Why? Because you are not from the Left front.I guarantee you, if they were part of the Left party, the CM would have talked to them," Rahul Gandhi said.
Earlier in the day, Rahul had lashed out at the Union government over the three contentious farm laws, and said the aim of the BJP government was to destroy farmers' market. While the first two laws destroy the country's agriculture sector, the third one denies justice to the farmers, he said, after inaugurating Aishwarya Yatra’s concluding ceremony.
"The first one destroys the farmers' market.The second one is to allow the richest to procure as much grain and unlimited hoarding. These two laws allow them to control the price of grains and vegetables. They (the government) have only one aim: the farmer does not get the right price for their produce. That everybody -- the middle class, farmers labourers have to pay more," he said.
He also attacked the Union government and state governments over the rising fuel prices, despite a low oil price in the international market. "The price of oil in the international market is down. But in India, the price of petrol and diesel are going up. Thousands of crores of rupees are being taken from your pocket every day. Where is this money going? To whom is this money being given?" he said.
The state-wide yatra, led by Chennithala, began on January 31 from Manjeswaram in the northernmost Kasaragod district and ended at Parassala near here on Sunday.
Watch video of Rahul Gandhi's visit: