Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's visit to the drought-hit villages in Satara on Saturday was met with much cynicism amongst the villagers. “Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi also came here and gave us only promises. Will you also do the same?” villagers asked Mr. Gandhi.
That the visit was merely a show, and would be completely unsuccessful if not followed by concrete steps to bring the villages out of the drought was the common sentiment among Satara's villagers. Mr. Gandhi reached Satara's Jhashi village in Mann taluka by helicopter at 9 a.m., spent two hours in two villages and flew back to Pune on Saturday afternoon. He was accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee Chairman Manikrao Thakre and other Congress leaders.
In Jhashi, Mr. Gandhi interacted with villagers before visiting the village lake which has run completely dry, and is the only source of water for the village. “Just give us a permanent water supply, so [that] we don't have to come begging to you every year,” Nilesh Khade, a resident of the village, told Mr. Gandhi. The demand to link the dams in Western Maharashtra, so as to ensure water in all 12 months of the year was most prominent in the village.
“There are projects that have been pending for years together. We will not be happy until our problems are solved permanently. Coming to the village for an hour means nothing to us,” Meenakshi Pawar, the Sarpanch of the village, told The Hindu .
Asked by the villagers to say something, Mr. Gandhi said: “I have come here to listen, not to talk.” Mr. Chavan assured the villagers that adequate funds will be released. “Mr. Gandhi has come to see the situation. He will help us in getting maximum funds for this region, that is why we have brought him here,” the Chief Minister said. Asked by The Hindu if the villagers' demand for permanent solutions will be heeded to, Mr. Chavan said: “It will be decided after the entire visit.”
Dr. Rajendra Khade, who owns a private hospital in Mhaswad taluka, told Mr. Gandhi that three generations of his family had suffered from drought. “We demand permanent solutions. The Congress party holds power in the Central and the State government, and yet this is the situation in this village,” he said. “The neighbouring Baramati and Pune districts get enough water because of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders, while we have been left to survive on our own,” he stated.
The NCP versus Congress debate was brought up by the residents of Pangri village as well, which Mr. Gandhi visited, cancelling the scheduled review of Employment Guarantee Scheme works in Bijawadi taluka. He visited the fodder depot in the village. “Today Rahul Gandhi has come, tomorrow Ajit Pawar will come. We don't know whom to trust anymore. All their tamasha [drama] will only bear fruit when we get water,” Sulochana Kale told The Hindu, waiting by a water-tap. “We haven't got water in the last five days,” she said.
The youth in Pangri village were particularly disappointed by Mr. Gandhi's visit. Asked if they believed they would get help after the visit, they said, “We have so many expectations from him, but we doubt if he will do anything.”
“When we asked him to say something, he said that the Chief Minister will take care. He didn't even give us any hope,” Pawan Jagdale stated.
