Rahul Gandhi will start his UP campaign tour from Deoria district (File photo)
Deoria, Uttar Pradesh:
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is likely to spend 30 consecutive days in Uttar Pradesh to connect with grassroots workers and voters in the state that is due to choose its next government in six months.
Party sources said that Mr Gandhi's UP tour will begin within the next 10 days in Deoria in the south-east part of the state.
They estimate Mr Gandhi's "Deoria se Dilli tak (from Deoria to Delhi)" tour will bring him in contact with two crore people and will cover 40 of the state's 75 districts, but admitted that further details remain unresolved.
Mr Gandhi will focus heavily on highlighting the need to help farmers and accuse successive governments of failing them and being unable to alleviate the backwardness and poverty of India's most populous state.
The Congress last governed Uttar Pradesh nearly three decades ago. It has declared Sheila Dikshit, 78, as its presumptive chief minister. Mr Gandhi's mother, Sonia, was forced last month to cut short her roadshow through Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after she fell sick while campaigning.
It is not clear yet how Mr Gandhi will conduct his tour or yatra. Raj Babbar, actor-turned-politician and head of the Congress in UP, is travelling through the state on a bus to rack up support.
In the national election two years ago, the Gandhis were the only Congress MPs to be re-elected from Uttar Pradesh.
The Samajwadi Party is hoping Akhilesh Yadav will be re-elected Chief Minister. Mayawati, who is a Dalit leader and heads the BSP, is asking for another shot as head of the state; she has been its Chief Minister three times. The BJP had not yet declared its nominee for Chief Minister.
Party sources said that Mr Gandhi's UP tour will begin within the next 10 days in Deoria in the south-east part of the state.
They estimate Mr Gandhi's "Deoria se Dilli tak (from Deoria to Delhi)" tour will bring him in contact with two crore people and will cover 40 of the state's 75 districts, but admitted that further details remain unresolved.
Mr Gandhi will focus heavily on highlighting the need to help farmers and accuse successive governments of failing them and being unable to alleviate the backwardness and poverty of India's most populous state.
The Congress last governed Uttar Pradesh nearly three decades ago. It has declared Sheila Dikshit, 78, as its presumptive chief minister. Mr Gandhi's mother, Sonia, was forced last month to cut short her roadshow through Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after she fell sick while campaigning.
It is not clear yet how Mr Gandhi will conduct his tour or yatra. Raj Babbar, actor-turned-politician and head of the Congress in UP, is travelling through the state on a bus to rack up support.
In the national election two years ago, the Gandhis were the only Congress MPs to be re-elected from Uttar Pradesh.
The Samajwadi Party is hoping Akhilesh Yadav will be re-elected Chief Minister. Mayawati, who is a Dalit leader and heads the BSP, is asking for another shot as head of the state; she has been its Chief Minister three times. The BJP had not yet declared its nominee for Chief Minister.
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