Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh:
Keeping up the attack on the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government in Uttar Pradesh, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today said that Central funds meant for the poor weren't reaching the people of the state.
Addressing a rally at Barabanki as part of his
Jan Sampark Yatra in the state, Mr Gandhi said, "Mayawati says that UP does not need MNREGA and it does not benefit anyone. She is right when she says that because MNREGA has only benefitted the ministers, middlemen and bureaucrats of UP."
The young Congress leader has earlier attacked the UP government over mismanagement of funds meant for social schemes, including the Centre's flagship scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi national Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
Mr Gandhi also said that if voted to power, his party would make the state the "number one" in the country.
"If the Congress forms the government in Uttar Pradesh, we assure, in 10 years, Uttar Pradesh will get to acquire the number one position among all the states in the country," he added.
The 41-year-old leader's tour that began in Barabanki today will also cover other districts in eastern UP including Bahraich, Balrampur, Shravasti and Kushinagar which will be the last stop of his
yatra. Besides attending roadside receptions and holding meetings with workers, he would also meet mediapersons.
At every district, Mr Gandhi would meet party workers at the block-level to feel the pulse of the common man ahead of the 2012 state Assembly polls, UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi had told reporters.