BANSWADA, April 11, 2004
Till a month ago, Suchi Madhu Goud,
an endocrinologist, had not dreamt that she would
be forced to take plunge into the rough and tumble
of the electoral battle to campaign for her NRI husband
and Congress candidate from the Nizamabad Lok Sabha
constituency, Madhu Yaskhi.
Ten days after filing of nomination
by her lawyer-turned-politician husband, Dr. Suchi,
who left behind medical practice in the United States,
is going all out to win the hearts of people. If public
meetings and padayatra became a daily routine for
Mr. Yaskhi, his wife did not lag behind by launching
door-to-door campaign in all the seven assembly segments
of the Parliamentary constituency.
Accompanied by a few women and close
relatives, Dr. Suchi pleads with the electorate to
give a chance to her husband. Dr. Suchi seems to have
caught the attention of people with her down-to-earth
demeanour.
Dr. Suchi was on a door-to-door campaign
in Banswada town on Saturday when she took some time
off her hectic schedule to speak to The Hindu. Dr.
Suchi said her intention of plunging into the electioneering
was to encourage women to come out and vote and make
the right choice. "With the urge to serve the
poor, we have taken a conscious decision to quit our
lucrative practices and return to India,'' she said,
adding that her husband was moved by the death of
over 50 farmers in Machareddy mandal alone due to
mounting debts.
"It was here that he took a decision
to adopt Nizamabad district, particularly Machareddy
mandal, and take care of the needs of the families
of farmers," she said. Narrating her experience
in the electioneering, Dr. Suchi pointed out that
though Hyderabad looked developed and was rated high,
the situation was different in the rural areas.
She observed that her husband took
the right decision to join the Congress as it was
the only secular party. Reacting to the opposition
to her husband's selection, she said: "There
are all kinds of dirty games and I have advised my
husband to ignore the talk." She exuded confidence
that her husband would win the election.
She said that women beedi workers
were facing a lot of health problems. "I am planning
to hold special medical camps for the women through
the Madhu Yaskhi Foundation.'' She suggested that
masks should be provided to beedi workers to counter
lung diseases.
(Source The Hindu)