The Congress will contest all 80 seats of UP in the Lok Sabha elections
FILE PHOTO
AMN / LUCKNOW
The Congress party will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh alone. This was announced at a press conference by All India Congress Committee General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad and Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Raj Babbar in Lucknow today.
Mr Azad refuted charges that the Congress did nothing for the poor, dalits, minorities and backward classes. He said, Congress united the country which was divided into many parts.
Rahul Gandhi will hold 13 rallies in 13 zones in Uttar Pradesh in February. In each zone, six Lok Sabha seats will be identified and Mr Gandhi will hold one rally in each zone, sources said. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and the party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Raj Babbar met today to finalise the plans.
“Everyone knows that parliament fight is between the Congress and the BJP. We’ll certainly take the help of like minded-parties and respect such parties who are fighting the BJP,” Mr Azad told reporters at a press conference after the meeting.
Rahul Gandhi’s rallies will begin from western Uttar Pradesh and the first phase of rallies will be held in Hapur, Moradabad and Saharanpur, sources said.
Mr Gandhi had hinted at the party’s plans for the state after the two leaders’ seat sharing announcement on Saturday. The Congress “has lots to offer to the people of Uttar Pradesh” and will take “our own decision too,” Mr Gandhi told reporters in Dubai.
The Samajwadi Party and Mayawati will contest 38 seats each. Of the remaining 4 seats, two are Amethi and Rae Bareli — Congress bastions held by Mr Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi. The other two will go to Ajit Singh, the chief of Rashtriya Lok Dal, which is part of the alliance in the state.