Umbha protestee to head Congress in Sonbhadra

LUCKNOW: When Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi wanted to meet Umbha incident victim families, she was detained by the district administration in the Chunar guest house.
But a young man from the village managed to reach out to her and connect the aggrieved families to the Congress general secretary. Three months since, Ramrajya Gond was appointed as the chief of the party’s Sonbhadra unit on Tuesday.Sources in the Congress said that Ramrajya Gond has been hand-picked and rewarded by Priyanka Gandhi now.
On July 17, a group of villagers reportedly headed by Yagyadatt attacked tribal residents for forceful possession of land in Umbha village. As many as 11 persons were killed in the clash while over two dozen were injured.
A special investigation team of the UP Police is probing the disputed land case even as the state government gave compensation to the aggrieved families. The Congress party cornered the Yogi government on the count and also gave financial assistance to the survivors of the deceased and those injured.
“Perhaps the first graduate from his village, 32-year-old Ramrajya Gond has been working to raise the problems of the tribals in his areas despite suffering on account of his mission. He has been booked under the Goonda act by UP government for his good deeds,” said Rakesh Sachan, general secretary, UP.
Ramrajya’s father Bahadur has been the village head of Umbha besides being heading the block level Congress committee. “The announcement came as a surprise. Priyanka didi has entrusted a big responsibility on me,” Ramrajya told TOI who has been an inspiration to many children in his village.
On his vision to expand the party’s base in Sonbhadra, Ramrajya said: “I don’t believe in making tall claims... my efforts will speak for me in the days to come.” Adding that a large number of tribal reside in Sonbhadra with Gonds, Kols, Biyaara dn Kharwaars being the main ones, he stated: “The life of these tribals is a glimpse into the third world and a lot needs to be done to bring them in the mainstream."
Meanwhile, the party-appointed 51 district level heads on Tuesday, a task pending since July 2017 when raj Babbar took charge of UP Congress. The delay in appointment of district heads is said to have hampered party’s performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Heads of Amethi and Rae Bareli units were also shunted out. While Pradeep Singhal replaced Yogendra Mishra in Amethi, Pankaj Tewari would be heading the Rae Bareli unit instead of VK Shukla. The expected appointment of Lucknow unit head was however not made.
“The appointments aligned with the party’s philosophy of converting organisational strength to fuel the movement against ruling BJP. Committed cadres, student leaders and social activists have been made the face of party’s unit in the district,” said Siddhartpriya Srivastava, in-charge administrative department, UP Congress. Umbha protestee to head Congress in Sonbhadra