Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh:
Time for a change, Rahul Gandhi told Uttar Pradesh today. He launched the Congress' election campaign with a blistering attack on the Mayawati government in the state, saying UP was being "ruled by the mafia."
Bring that change, he told the youth of UP to many cheers, because "the government that rules you has betrayed you in the worst possible manner. The day the youth of UP stands up and demands development is when things will happen for you." A capacity crowd in Phulpur cheered lustily, waving Congress flags.
There were some black flags at the venue too, being waved by Samajwadi Party protestors that had sneaked in as the Congress leader landed, and there was a scuffle. The police chased away the protestors; Congress leaders gave chase too. UP leader and central minister Jiten Prasada was seen beating up one such protestor, while UP Congress Legislature Party chief Pramod Tiwari slipped and fell on his first attempt and then recovered to beat up some more.
On the big stage erected at the venue, there was action more of the political kind. Rahul Gandhi went straight for the BSP government's jugular: "India is developing, UP is going backwards...Corruption is so high in UP that money is demanded to register first information reports." The Congress leader said there was abject poverty in the state, the Centre sent crores of rupees to UP, but the funds did not reach the people.
The choice of venue is strategic - Phulpur, 30 km from the Nehru base of Allahabad, was the constituency from where former prime minister and Rahul Gandhi's great grandfather, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected to Parliament in the first Lok Sabha elections in 1951. And the last time Phulpur voted for a Congress candidate was in 1984. Rahul Gandhi used the historical connection to belabour his point - this state once elected Pandit Nehru; now it elected criminals as leaders.
Assembly elections are due in UP in early 2012 and Rahul Gandhi kicking off the party's poll campaign is being looked upon as significant. That Mr Gandhi will General the Congress' battle for elections was clear from the many posters welcoming him to Phulpur. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, was noticeably absent from most. Mr Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were on prominent display, leading once again to speculation that the Congress is ready to confer a more expansive role on Mr Gandhi than his current official designation of General Secretary.
When party leaders have been asked recently if Mr Gandhi will be declared the Congress Working President soon, they have been coy. "There is a clamour for Rahul to take up more responsibility, but the decision will be his," said Digvijaya Singh, who is in charge of UP for the Congress. When asked about the posters that exclude Mrs Gandhi, he said, "Sonia-ji is still the decision-maker. As this is Rahul's rally, the posters show him."
At Phulpur, Rahul Gandhi was to the manor born. He wore the Congress worker's traditional Gandhi topi for a photo-op moment and saluted before walking on stage. There was another photo-op when he stood up and spoke - Digvijaya Singh was seen clicking away.
UP Chief Minister Mayawati is geared up for a big fight ahead and has made it clear that she will target Mr Gandhi during the campaign that is now picking up momentum in UP.
Over the weekend, she referred to him as "the yuvraj" or prince of the Congress. "Instead of expressing his anger here, it would be better if the Yuvraj of Congress vents his ire at the Congress-led Central government for its failure to contain inflation and adopting step-motherly treatment towards the development of the state," she said.
The Samajwadi Party has also been less than welcoming of Mr Gandhi. 12 party workers were arrested at the Prayag railway station in Allahabad; they burnt an effigy of the Congress leader.
All of UP's big players are already in election mode. The BJP's LK Advani's anti-corruption
yatra will be passing through UP soon, BJP president Nitin Gadkari will be taking a
yatra to Ayodhya. Samajwadi Party leaders plan
yatras of their own, Mayawati is said to be holding strategy meetings on how to balance the caste factor, and now Rahul is expected to flag off about 10
yatras at today's rally.
Rahul Gandhi has been aggressively building up to this. The Congress General Secretary has been focused on UP, often inviting much criticism for it. The 41-year-old has been assiduously working on reviving the party at the grassroots in the state, even as he has kept up a volley of attacks on the Mayawati government.
The most prominent of the issues he has taken on Mayawati over is land acquisition - an emotive issue with farmers that saw major unrest in several parts of the state against the administration. And Rahul Gandhi hit out today at the state government again asking what it had done to stop police atrocities in Bhatta Parsaul - the twin Greater Noida villages which became a symbol of Rahul Gandhi's campaign on land acquisition when he took up the cause of the farmers after an incident of violence.