Ahmedabad: Opposition Congress in Gujarat is carrying out an aggressive and sustained campaign ahead of the state assembly polls, taking up issues affecting people and connecting with the masses by organising various yatras and agitations, which has for the first time put the ruling BJP on the defensive.Even Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has never bothered to react to statements and promises of state Congress leaders in the run up to December 2012 elections, has had to respond to some of its poll promises."Earlier, state leaders of Congress, instead of doing any ground work, used to depend more on virtual campaign through advertisements and press statements and held the hope that charisma of their central leadership will sail them through," a Congress leader said.But this time there is a planned meticulous campaign in which state level leaders have actually gone to the people of Gujarat and tried to connect with a large number of people through various yatras and stirs and have taken up real issues affecting them, he said."The Congress campaign had started a year ahead of the scheduled date of polls. Our focus of campaign is arrogance of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi versus democratic values," Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said."We have held a sustained campaign against the issues concerning people, which the present government has failed to tackle like unemployment, corruption, benefits of development not reaching poor and lower middle class and insensitivity of those in power towards problem of common man," Doshi said.Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhvadia, election campaign committee chief Shankarsinh Vaghela and leader of opposition Shaktisinh Gohil have not only focused on building of organisational strengths, but in tandem have targeted right areas and sections of the society for the campaign of the party, he said.Neighbouring Kancheepuram district, which encompasses suburbs of Chennai, also has a good number of people from the North East and police have initiated measures to instill confidence in them."There are over 2,000 workers from the North East in Kancheepuram district. I have met them and told them not to believe any rumours and asked them to contact me if they came across any rumour," Kancheepuram Superintendent of Police S Manoharan told a news agency.Kancheepuram is one of the districts which is undergoing large-scale industrialisation in the state lately.Some students from the Northeast themselves are surprised by the sudden exodus of their community people."I have always found Chennai very, very safe. Personally, I have not seen any threat here and I do not feel any need for anyone to leave Chennai and Tamil Nadu," Saniyo, hailing from Shillong in Meghalaya and now a post-graduate student in a management college in Chengalpet, said.Asked whether he has faced any change of attitude toward them among the locals, he replied in the negative."Even yesterday I visited a place in Perambur...I did not feel any change in the way they (the locals) see me. It was like any other day. As I said, Chennai is different from other states and cities," he reasoned.A senior railway official too said he was surprised to see such mass movement of people from Chennai on safety grounds."I presume they were leaving because of the violence in Assam, which have disturbed their families and they want to be by their family during this time," B Ilangovan, Deputy General Manager, Southern Railways said.
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