Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, the party’s poster boy for the Uttar Pradesh campaign, on Saturday took to task MPs and union ministers hailing from the state for not doing enough in their constituencies when Assembly elections were round the corner.
According to sources, Gandhi was angered by the fact that while all these MPs made a beeline for the state when he visited UP for his rallies and ‘jansampark abhiyans’, no sooner did he leave they were back in the capital.
“Practically, no mobilization has been done in the state at the ground level,” said a source. Gandhi reminded them repeatedly, “We have to win.”
The Congress has 22 MPs from the state and most were present at the meeting on Saturday. The party’s UP election campaign committee has divided the state into 10 zones for better campaign mobilization. Gandhi met the heads of the 10 zones and members of the Abhiyan committee.
According to a legislator present at the meeting, Gandhi said, “This will not do. You have to work in the state and not sit in Delhi. Make the electorate aware of the rampant corruption and the total collapse of law and order in the Mayawati regime. We have to win.”
The fact that the UP elections are crucial for Gandhi’s political career is evident in the way he is personally monitoring the campaign, right from selection of candidates to village-to-village campaigning.
After his five-day-long Jansampark Yatra which saw barbs being traded between UP chief minister Mayawati and himself, the Congress general secretary will launch the next leg of his yatra from December 13.
Significantly, several MPs from the state have heeded the warning and set off on a four-day tour of their constituencies, availing the Parliament break.
