By IANS,
New Delhi: Twenty-five-year-old Ramya Haridas, a Dalit Youth Congress leader from Kozhikode in north Kerala, was pleasantly surprised when she heard her name being announced at the Indian Youth Congress convention here Monday and asked to come to the dais.
As her colleagues translated for her the announcement in Hindi that she was being asked to go to the dais, where Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and other leaders were seated, she was thrilled.
“This is a dream come true for me. I had seen Rahul-ji from a distance at many camps and meetings. I always used to dream that one day I may be able to interact with him closely. That has come true as I stand before you,” she said in Malayalam to the applause of the 7,000-strong youth gathering. Her highly emotional speech was translated by a fellow leader.
Similar was the experience of several ‘aam admi’ (ordinary) activists or even legislators from various states and a woman minister from West Bengal.
“It’s another impressive act by our leader (Gandhi), who pays surprise visits to Dalit and poor families, shares their meals and sometimes stays at their houses,” said Rashid Ali, a delegate from Karnataka.
West Bengal Labour Minister Sabina Yasmin said she just worked under the guidance of Rahul Gandhi as positions came to her one after and another. She had made history by becoming the first Muslim woman minister in the state after independence.
Sabina, 33, said she never calculated anything as the party asked her to contest the district parishad polls and later the assembly polls. “I kept on doing my duty,” she added.
Soumitra Khan, legislator from the Katulpur constituency in West Bengal, had a similar story. Gandhi had been his inspiration while working in the Maoist-hit region leading to his electoral victory, he said.
Earlier, representatives of ordinary people – including a ‘pav bhaji’ seller from Maharashtra and a woman village activist from West Bengal – were called to offer garlands to Rahul and other leaders.