Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh:
After his aggressive and unrelenting campaign against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and her party, the BSP, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today seemed to have shifted focus to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On Day 3 of his five-day tour of the state, the Gandhi scion today took the poll battle to Pilibhit, his estranged cousin Varun Gandhi's parliamentary constituency.
Situated in the Tarai region, Pilibhit hit headlines in 2009 for Varun Gandhi's alleged hate speech controversy in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
In a subtle reference to his controversial cousin who is from the BJP, Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress, unlike other parties, did not indulge in the "politics of religion".
"Like some parties, we do not practice politics of religion. We only believe in politics of development," he said.
The 41-year-old leader has criss-crossed the state in the last few months, launching an intense election campaign that has predominantly focussed on what the Congress calls as Mayawati's misrule. Mr Gandhi has especially targeted the BSP supremo over the issue of land acquisition that has been a highly-emotive issue with the farmers in the state. With the state slated to go to polls in February, the Congress has further upped the ante by announcing a 4.5 quota for Muslims under the 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and educational institutions. The move, timed to beat the model code of conduct that has come into effect, is strategic in that Muslims constitute a considerable portion of the votebank at 18%.
On Day 3 of his five-day tour of the state, the Gandhi scion today took the poll battle to Pilibhit, his estranged cousin Varun Gandhi's parliamentary constituency.
Situated in the Tarai region, Pilibhit hit headlines in 2009 for Varun Gandhi's alleged hate speech controversy in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
In a subtle reference to his controversial cousin who is from the BJP, Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress, unlike other parties, did not indulge in the "politics of religion".
"Like some parties, we do not practice politics of religion. We only believe in politics of development," he said.
The 41-year-old leader has criss-crossed the state in the last few months, launching an intense election campaign that has predominantly focussed on what the Congress calls as Mayawati's misrule. Mr Gandhi has especially targeted the BSP supremo over the issue of land acquisition that has been a highly-emotive issue with the farmers in the state. With the state slated to go to polls in February, the Congress has further upped the ante by announcing a 4.5 quota for Muslims under the 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and educational institutions. The move, timed to beat the model code of conduct that has come into effect, is strategic in that Muslims constitute a considerable portion of the votebank at 18%.
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