Congress's Buddha-to-Gandhi march begins from Bodh Gaya

GAYA: Struggling to find its lost ground in the state, Congress leaders on Friday began the Buddha to Gandhi march between Bodh Gaya and Champaran to protest against the Land Acquisition Bill.
Several hundred Congress activists from different parts of the state assembled at Birla Dharmsala near the Mahabodhi temple, the seat of Buddha's enlightenment. Before formal commencement of the march, several important Congress leaders offered prayers at the Mahabodhi temple and sought Buddha's blessings for the mission's success.BPCC chief Ashoka Chaudhary, former Assembly speaker Sadanand Singh and AICC representative K L Sharma jointly led the Congress march. Interestingly, the state Congress has gone into the agitation mode after decades of political stupor and as such all eyes are fixed on the response to the March.
BPCC president Chaudhary addressed the gathering of Congress workers at Bodh Gaya and accused BJP of mortgaging the interest of small and marginal farmers to further the economic interests of the corporate houses. He pledged to fight what he called anti- people policies of the Union government. Congress Party's regional spokesperson Vijai Kumar Mithu said party activists from all the districts are participating in the march.
Launching a frontal attack on Narendra Modi government, the BPCC chief alleged that the centre was insensitive to the problems of the disadvantaged sections including landless workers and marginal farmers and the PM displayed his anti-poor approach by ridiculing a poverty alleviation scheme like MGNREGA.
Bodh Gaya's selection as the starting point of the Congress party's land march is being regarded as symbolic for more than one reason. Bodh Gaya had been an important centre during the Bhoodan movement launched by Vinoba Bhave. 'Sangharsh Vahini', an activist group, had conducted a long agitation for distribution of surplus land belonging to the Bodh Gaya mahanth. Despite stiff resistance from the mahanth and sporadic acts of land-related violence, 'Sangharsh Vahini', in the 80s succeeded in getting big chunks of the muth land distributed among the landless people of the area. The muth land beneficiaries are now the proud owners of prime land in and around Bodh Gaya.
Prominent absentees from the agitational programme included former BPCC chief Ram Jatan Sinha. Sinha said he was not invited to participate in the party programme. He, however, reiterated his commitment to Congress Party and its ideology.