Lucknow, Oct 28 (IANS): It took a quiz competition for the Uttar Pradesh Congress to realize the extent to which the younger generations were harbouring misconceptions about the Congress and its role in nation-building.
"The allegations and false information being peddled on the social media by the non-Congress parties has obviously taken its toll. We have realized that there is a lot of misinformation on social media and those who appeared in the quiz made it clear.
"As we gave away prizes to winners earlier this week, many of them came to us to convey how the quiz has helped them get the right information," said Mukesh Chauhan, president of the City Congress Committee in Lucknow.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) organised the quiz contest on September 13 and 14 and it focused on the role of the Congress and its leaders in the freedom struggle and nation-building over the years.
"The quiz was titled 'Rajiv Gandhi Samanya Gyan Pratiyogita' (general knowledge contest) and the winners were given laptops, mobile phones and tablets, apart from consolation prizes that included subscription to general knowledge and NCERT books," said Anil Yadav, organisation secretary of the UPCC.
"About 12.50 lakh youth had registered for the quiz competition that was held in all the 75 districts. About 5.85 lakh participated in the 60-question competition held online. Participants were in the 16 to 22-years age group and they admitted that they have learned facts about the Congress they did not know," said Yadav.
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 those in the second and the third positions.
One of the questions asked was to name a leader who was the first to speak about the need to fight Covid-19 in India and most of the participants got it right -- Rahul Gandhi said Yadav.
The quiz asked who introduced reservation for women in Panchayati raj institutions and who brought the revolution in the communications sector in India? The answer was late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The participants went through the study material provided to them to prepare for the quiz.
Other questions focused on work done during the tenure of first Prime Minister, the late Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Minister the late Indira Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well.
A veteran party leader said: "The Congress is the oldest party. It has done a lot and holding a quiz is a very positive move. I do not agree with the claim that Congress did nothing for the country. The political parties should do more positive things than just indulging in negative politics. More events like this quiz should be held to clear the air and inform the young generation about the party and its leaders."
He said that the Congress leadership will have to prove itself to the people if the party wants to win an election.
Uttar Pradesh BJP leader Vijay Pathak said, "The Congress is busy expanding its organizational base in Uttar Pradesh. But the party has a negative approach. It cannot give a positive message by resorting to negative politics. Congress should work as a responsible opposition party and also appreciate the good work being done by the state government."