Rahul kickstarts Lok Sabha campaign to reprise 2009 show in UP

mangaloretoday.com/ India Today

Lucknow, March 01: Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi on Friday kicked off his Lok Sabha campaign in Uttar Pradesh with a hope of repeating the 2009 success story when the party had won 21 of the 80 seats in the state.

Focusing mainly on women and the minority community, Rahul, on the first day of his two- day campaign in UP, interacted with anganwadi workers in Shaikh Sarai village under Chinhat area of Lucknow and then offered chadar at Dewa Sharif, a famous shrine of Haji Waris Ali Shah in Barabanki district.

 

Claiming that the Congress believes in communal harmony, Rahul was quoted as saying at a gathering of anganwadi workers that they should oppose BJP’s PM nominee Narendra Modi because he is against women and symbolises communalism and dictatorship.

" We want to give power to the women. But he wants to take back power from the people in general and restore it in one person who would be all powerful. The RSS, which is the brain behind the BJP, is primarily against women. It doesn’t allow women in the organisation.

But we want to empower you," Rahul was quoted as saying.

He also inquired about the midday meal scheme and reminded them that he had proposed to raise the quota of LPG cylinders from nine to 12.

Rahul was accompanied by Madhusudan Mistry, Congress general secretary in- charge of Uttar Pradesh. T HE Congress vicepresident also enquired about the progress in MGNREGS and told the women that it was intended for hassle- free payment of wages to the daily workers in villages.

 

Later, he went to Dewa Sharif, a dargah where both the Hindus and Muslims offer prayers. Thereafter, he embarked on a road show in Barabanki in support of P. L. Punia, the sitting MP from the constituency and a Dalit face of the Congress in the state.

Though Rahul received warm reception in Muslim and Dalitdominated Barabanki, it wasn’t the kind of euphoric response that he got in 2009. The Congress vicepresident stopped at over 50 places in the city, shook hands with the people and sought vote for the party candidate.

On Saturday, Rahul will participate in a rally in Mirzapur, a town dominated by weavers and address a rally at Babulal Jaiswal Inter College. Later, he will visit Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and offer prayers.

He will also meet over 50 rickshaw pullers and auto- drivers near Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station and enquire about their day- to- day problems before flying back to Delhi.

While all the Congress leaders of the area including Minister of State for Human Resources, Jitin Prasada, were there for the road show, Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma stayed away.

He was angry with Rahul because his request to give ticket to his followers in the area was turned down. He had also alleged that the Congress leadership was selling poll tickets and wanted Rahul to stay away from his rival, Punia’s constituency. But the Gandhi scion decided to visit Barabanki on the very first day of his election campaign in the state and took part in an extensive road show, annoying Beni further.