Rahul opens UP roadshow with a 'new vision'

Rahul Gandhi today set out on a three-day mission to Western Uttar Pradesh to revive the fortunes of the Congress in the state, which goes to polls in April-May.

Accompanied by family friend Satish Sharma, PCC President Salman Khurshid and other party leaders, Gandhi addressed rallies at Mohan Nagar and Muradnagar, invoking the state's glorious history and asking people to "end the 15-year misrule of the non-Congress governments.''

"I am here with a new vision and dream to restore the glory of the state," Gandhi told a rally in Mohan Nagar.

A large number of people waited at many points on the road to Muradnagar to catch a glimpse of the scion of the Gandhi-Nehru family.

According to a report, Gandhi took three hours to traverse a distance of 15 kms from Muradnagar.

The three-day roadshow of the 37-year-old Gandhi, through a wide swathe of western UP, began with a meeting in Mohan Nagar, where he said the state's progress had slowed down under the non-Congress governments.

"I have decided to work shoulder to shoulder with you all to end the 15 years of misrule here.UP has been the cradle of development and all good things that have happened to the country. I am here with a new vision and dream to restore the glory of the state," said Gandhi, who is the Congress MP from Amethi.

The Congress has been in political wilderness in the state for 15 years. Though Congress President Sonia Gandhi has herself admitted that "UP continues to be a difficult challenge,'' the party leaders are pinning hope on the young Gandhi's magic to win at least 25 seats.

The roadshow will criss-cross the strongholds of Congress' arch rivals, the Samajwadi Party and the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal.

The young Gandhi was cheered by large groups of people who had gathered at the roadside and at 29 reception points in Ghaziabad, Mohan Nagar, Muradnagar and Modinagar.

"My family and I live in Delhi but at heart we all live in Uttar Pradesh and think for the betterment of the state as it has gone back 15 years in terms of development due to corrupt politicians and corrupt governments," Rahul told people at the residence of Congress leader Vinod Maheshwari in Modinagar.