From Deoria to Delhi, Rahul to hit month-long poll trail in UP

Come September and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will head for poll-bound Uttar Pradesh for a month-long campaign. The Amethi MP will start his UP campaign tour from Deoria district on the eastern fringe and will criss–cross through the state by road up to Delhi. Those involved in planning Gandhi’s month-long road show point out that he will start the campaign in the second week of September in all probability.

The idea has already got a green signal from the Gandhi scion and now the nuances are being worked out by party strategist Prashant Kishore and Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee members.

The preparations of the same are going on in full swing in the state and places are being identified where his public meetings will be held. “He will stay in UP for almost 20-30 days. Apart from addressing public meetings, the Congress V-P will do padyatras and road shows making the party’s presence felt in each and every nook and corner of the state,” said highly placed sources. 

Congress blitzkrieg in UP is in its second phase. Already, 16 top leaders of the party are touring across the state covering 65 districts including Gandhi bastions Rae Bareli and Amethi. “Rahulji’s presence will add more power to party’s already aggressive election campaign that is going on in the state. He has always stood for the common man and during his UP poll campaign he will try to understand their problems and will expose the workings of other three political parties,” said Congress leader P L Punia, who along with others is touring the state. The two groups, one led by CM candidate Sheila Dikshit and another by PCC chief Raj Babbar, started their poll yatras from August 21. 

It will end in the first week of October. Each group will cover 32-33 districts. The party leaders through these yatras are connecting with the workers and voters.

In the first phase, the Congress launched a bus yatra from Rohilkhand to Kanpur, which was launched by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. The first phase of the election campaign also saw both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul leading the charge in two important constituencies. 

The latter held a meeting with the workers in Lucknow while the Congress president carried out a roadshow in Varanasi.