Rahul Gandhi rocks in North India
April 15th 2010 13:12
Now Rahul Gandhi Rocks in North India and Congress on the upswing in India’s most populous state. Yes the day has come when the Congress Party led by Sonia Gandhi is ready to take over the reins of power in Uttar Pradesh after a gap of 25 years. The historic Rath Yatras that the Congress has launched have already begun to produce results.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on April 14, 2010 garlanded a photo of Dr B.R. Ambedkar in the Central Hall of Parliament after the Ambedkar Nagar administration in Uttar Pradesh denied him permission to garland his statue in the area.
Rahul Gandhi garlanded the photo and left for Ambedkar Nagar where with an overwhelming show of hands and thousands of eager supporters he went of to flag off the rath yatra.
The administration was trying to prevent people from coming to the area. The UPCC Chief had to fight with the district magistrate in the morning over the issue.
Almost all the senior Congress leaders have camped in Ambedkar Nagar to ensure the success of Mr. Gandhi’s rally. UPCC chief, Rita Bahuguna camped in Ambedkar Nagar for three days. Dr. Joshi also visited several villages and development blocks in Ambedkar Nagar and the neighbouring Faizabad, Basti districts to gather support for Mr. Gandhi’s rally and the party’s programme in the State.
Formerly Akbarpur, Ambedkar Nagar was earlier part of Faizabad district. Famous for its handloom weaving industry, Akbarpur was created a new district and renamed Ambedkar Nagar by Mayawati during her first stint as Chief Minister. More importantly, Ambedkar Nagar has a sizeable population of Dalits.
The rath yatras that the Congress has launched from Ambedkarnagar on Wednesday will constitute the most ambitious exercise the party has ever undertaken to capture UP's political mindspace. The 10 yatras will be spread out over 103 days, and each will last 90 days. Between them, they will reach every one of the state's 403 Assembly constituencies.
The exercise will be split into two parts, with a four-month monsoon break from June to September. AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has flagged off the yatras, and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address a rally at their conclusion in Allahabad on November 10. In between, all top Congress leaders from the Centre and states, including the chief ministers, will visit UP, travel with the yatras, and address rallies.
Each yatra will be led by a senior leader, and will pass through around 40 Assembly constituencies, visiting every town and village of political consequence. There will be wayside meetings, and one big rally, which will be addressed by a national leader.
In choosing Ambedkarnagar, and the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, for the launch of the yatras, the Congress has thrown a direct challenge to the BSP and Chief Minister Mayawati.
The launch of the Chetna Yatra not only started Congress’s 125th year celebration but is also being seen as the start of Rahul’s campaign for the UP assembly election 2012. The fact that he chose Ambedkar’s 119th birth anniversary and Ambedkarnagar as the venue for the launch made it clear that Congress will now aggressively woo Dalits.
Amid thunderous applause, Gandhi scion made it clear that future politics will not be based on the caste and communal configurations but revolve around youth and its requirement. The crowd waited patiently under the blazing sun for hours for Rahul’s arrival. Mostly young, people broke barriers, climbed up the poles, perched on tree tops and fought with each other to occupy the first row to have the glimpse of the star politician.
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