With the BJP accusing the Congress of ‘doing’ nothing for the country, many questions in the Rajiv Gandhi Samanya Gyan Pratiyogita (general knowledge contest) focused on the role of the party and its leaders in the freedom struggle and nation-building over the years.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) organised the quiz contest on September 13 and 14. The prizes were given on Sunday.
About 7,840 youths have won various prizes. A laptop was given in every district to the winner of the first prize while a cell phone and a tablet were given to winners of the second and the third prizes. Barring Etah, the prize distribution ceremony was organised for all the districts in Lucknow on Sunday.
“Besides laptops, mobile phones and tablets, we also gave consolation prizes that included subscription to general knowledge and NCERT books,” said Anil Yadav, organisation secretary of the UPCC.
“Yes, there is a lot of misinformation on the social media and those who appeared in the quiz have realised this. As we gave away prizes to the winners on Sunday, many of the winners came to us to convey how the quiz has helped them get the right information,” said Mukesh Chauhan, president of the City Congress Committee, Lucknow.
Chauhan’s claims are not unfounded. About 12.50 lakh youth had registered for the second Rajiv Gandhi Samanya Gyan Pratiyogita (General Knowledge Quiz) held in all the 75 districts of the state. About 5.85 lakh youths participated in the 60-question competition held online.
{{/usCountry}}Chauhan’s claims are not unfounded. About 12.50 lakh youth had registered for the second Rajiv Gandhi Samanya Gyan Pratiyogita (General Knowledge Quiz) held in all the 75 districts of the state. About 5.85 lakh youths participated in the 60-question competition held online.
{{/usCountry}}“Those who participated in the quiz are in the 16 to 22 year age group and they have come across the facts about the Congress (now),” said Yadav.
“One of the questions asked participants to name a leader who was the first to speak about the need to fight Covid-19 in India and the obvious reply was Rahul Gandhi,” he added.
More and more questions may have focused on the role of Congress and its leaders.
The participants went through the study material provided to them to prepare for the quiz. For instance, the quiz asked who introduced reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions or who brought the revolution in the communications sector in India? Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was the obvious answer to these two questions.
Other questions focused on work done during the tenure of first Prime Minister, the late Jawaharlal Nehru. It also had questions on former Prime Minister the late Indira Gandhi and former Prime Minister Mamohan Singh as well.
Asked whether the Congress would be able to counter the BJP’s campaign, Yadav said, “We did not intend to counter them. We provided a lot of information with facts on our online page Yuva Josh. We also provided information to the youth through preparatory quiz and YouTube videos.”
SK Dwivedi, former head of the department of political science at Lucknow University, said, “The Congress is the oldest party. It has done a lot and holding a quiz is a very positive move. I don’t agree with the claim that the Congress did nothing for the country. The political parties should do more positive things than just indulging in negative politics.”
“The Congress leadership will have to prove itself to the people if the party wants to win an election,” he added.
Uttar Pradesh BJP leader Vijay Pathak said, “The Congress is busy expanding its organisational base in Uttar Pradesh. But the party has a negative approach. It cannot give a positive message by resorting to negative politics. The Congress should work as a responsible opposition party and appreciate the good work being done by the state government, instead of indulging in negative politics only.”