Congress banks on Rahul Gandhi to woo voters in UP

New Delhi: Undeterred by the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in Uttar Pradesh, from which it was left out, the Congress has decided to dig in its heels in the crucial state with party chief Rahul Gandhi planning to address at least 12 rallies there in the next month.

Suddenly in “war mode”, Congress’ UP in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad is camping in Lucknow along with PCC chief Raj Babbar and has held several rounds of hectic meetings with state-level leaders and district office-bearers.

Relying on Mr Gandhi to pull in the crowds, the party has decided he will address 12 rallies over the next one month in the pre-election notification phase. The first rally will be held in Lucknow, and the party hopes to get at least 10 lakh supporters to attend it.

The rallies will be an eye-opener for all other parties, a senior Congress leader said. The Congress president had earlier said his party may spring a surprise in the polls.

After the first rally in Lucknow, the other likely venues are Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Bareilly, Kanpur, Prayagraj (Allahabad) and Jhansi. The Congress leadership in the state feels with aggressive posturing, large-scale rallies and choice of good candidates, it can be a major attraction for the minorities in many seats.

The Samajwadi Party and BSP, on the other hand fear that the Congress might wean away some upper caste votes from the BJP and help them win more seats.