An Open Letter to Rahul Gandhi

Dear Rahul Gandhi

It’s good to know you are going to visit Tripura tomorrow and that one of the places you will be at is Kailashahar – (my family has a house there you know) - the once sleepy town in the recently formed Unokoti district. 


Since your family members only visit North East (Your grandma visited Kailashahar twice, but just to ask for votes), I am quite surprised that you are doing it now. Yes, Tripura will go into election next year, but there is time yet.

I am therefore, taking this as a sign of you setting a new trend. 


Now, since you are setting a new trend, may I request you to continue doing that when you talk to the locals and bring up these few issues? 



Suicide: Can you ask around and find (and dare talk it back to the capital) why the tiny state has the highest rate (2 in a day) of suicide?


In UP, you made heads turn by supporting farmers’ causes. Can you do the same here in Tripura? Because, you or anyone in your coterie may not know, but THERE ARE A NUMBER OF FARMERS IN TRIPURA WHO KILLED THEMSELVES AFTER THEY HAD A FAILED CROP AND COULDN’T REPAY THEIR LOANS. The number is about 1000, in case this is what you need.


Dying tea gardens: Can you raise the issue of the vanishing tea gardens in the state, which once stood third in tea production? Can you talk about why the tea gardens are being turned into rubber gardens, snatching livelihood of hundreds of tribal folks?


Violence against women: Can you, Rahul, also talkabout the rising rate of crime against women, many of whom kill themselves? If you didn’t know, in past 1 month alone, 2 women have been gang raped and killed in capital Agartala. Also, in past 1 year, 119 women have committed suicide here. 


Finally, you may know that the state is nearly bankrupt and it has requested for a special economic package of Rs. 13,600 crore. 


Your party in the state has said that center shouldn’t give this money. But while they try to set a political score against the state government, people in villages around Kailashahar are dying.


So, Rahul, can you touch on this issue and tell people what does your government in the center plans to do about the bailout package?  


You of course can ignore all these issues and just stick to the ‘this government is bad, so vote my party’ slogan.


But then, that wouldn’t be much of a trend setting step, will it?
And for that, you need not go now, but visit days before the election, like your family always did!