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Rahul set to up his stake in UP

Facing a barrage of complaints against local-level leaders, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday promised that those who harmed the party during the elections would be identified and shown the door. He also dropped enough hints about a major shake-up in the Uttar Pradesh unit of the party, saying no one would be spared for the poor showing in the February-March assembly elecctions.

Congress workers vented ire in front of Rahul. His party fared dismally even in areas that were considered its stronghold. The local MP stressed that the organisation would be revamped and priority would be given to active, honest and dedicted workers.

Flooded with reports and complaints that many Congress party leaders had worked at cross-purposes with the leadership during the assembly elections, Gandhi told workers that he was aware of ‘certain things’ that had worked against the party as it tried to take a shot at power after 22 years.

In his interactions with party workers at Tiloi, Munshiganj and Fursatganj, the Congress general secretary tried to reach out to party workers, many of them youngsters, and try to asses on ‘what actually went wrong’.

According to the workers and leaders who attended the review of Jagdishpur segment on the last day of his three-day visit, Gandhi said that workers were the backbone of the party and their voice would be heard.

Gandhi said that all development works in the district would be reviewed every three months and the basic problems related to power, potable water and roads would be resolved on a priority basis.

Motivating the workers, the Congress MP asked them not to get discouraged and start preparing for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The scene and complaints in Jagdishpur were similar to that in other assembly segments with the party workers complaining that they were not heard and development in the rural areas was not as per the requirement. The workers also pointed out that common people have nowhere to go and that not much has been done to deal with problems like unemployment.

Meanwhile, farmers, whose land had been acquired for setting up the shoe factory where Rahul was holding the meeting, stopped his cavalcade as he was moving out and complained that they had not yet been provided employment to which the Congress leader promised to do something on reaching Delhi, the sources said.

Close aides and staff attached to Rahul Gandhi have been making detailed reports on the Congress candidate performances during the state polls and are trying to asses the party shortcomings, specially the black sheep in the party. Gandhi also asked party leaders to forget about the humiliation at the hustings and prepare for the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.

In the recent state assembly polls, the Congress won only 28 seats, just a few more than what it bagged five years ago, despite intense campaigning by Rahul Gandhi. So dismal was the Congress show that its candidates lost even in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi - Rae Bareli and Amethi

Meanwhile, the A K Antony Committee, which went into the electoral defeat of the party in the UP elections, is understood to have completed its findings. The report will be given a final shape tomorrow after which it could be submitted to Congress President Sonia Gandhi either tomorrow itself or shortly thereafter, sources said. The Committee, has, however, avoided any critical assessment of Rahul Gandhi‘s role, who had undertaken a vigorous campaign in UP in order to rebuild the party.

Gandhi had to abrubtly cut short his visit to Amethi and flying off to Assam to meet relatives of those killed in Monday’s ferry tragedy.
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