Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi rounded off his two-day visit to Kerala on Wednesday with two major initiatives — meeting representatives of rubber farmers and fisher folk along the Chavakkad coast line in Thrissur district.
The meetings were part of the Congress leader’s current outreach programme intended to find his feet after the debacle his party suffered in the Lok Sabha elections last year.
Mr. Gandhi could not have done better in selecting the two issues that had a direct bearing on the State’s economy.
Rubber growersRubber cultivators have been going through a rather difficult phase following crash in prices of the commodity after almost a decade of smooth run. Besides, rubber cultivators happen to be a core constituency for the Congress in Central Travancore and the High Ranges. The State government had taken several steps to cushion the rubber cultivator from the vagaries of easy import and custom duty rates that found rubber being imported in large quantities. Mr. Gandhi’s decision to take up the problems faced by the Fishing community in Kerala in the backdrop of the Modi government’s decision to impose a total fisheries ban for an extended period of 61 days will go down well with the traditional fisher folk who would also come under the purview of the ban.
