Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh:
A lot of the trademark Gandhi topis dot the venue of Rahul Gandhi's big Phulpur rally, where the Congress General Secretary launched his party's UP election campaign. Mr Gandhi wore one for a few seconds as he saluted before proceeding to the high stage.
Delivering an uninhibited criticism of Mayawati's government in the state, the Congress leader said, "India has moved forward, but Uttar Pradesh is still backward. The state is being ruled by the mafia."
He also alleged that Uttar Pradesh government misused the Central funds for farmers. "Centre sends crores to UP, but the government does nothing."
He also said that the state government failed to stop police atrocities in Bhatta-Parsaul.
For now he is seated among UP Congress leaders, waving and smiling at the people of the state he hopes to woo. 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.
That Mr Gandhi will General the Congress' battle for elections is clear from the many posters welcoming him to Phulpur. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, is noticeably absent from most. Mr Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru are 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."
Mayawati 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 focussed 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.
Delivering an uninhibited criticism of Mayawati's government in the state, the Congress leader said, "India has moved forward, but Uttar Pradesh is still backward. The state is being ruled by the mafia."
He also alleged that Uttar Pradesh government misused the Central funds for farmers. "Centre sends crores to UP, but the government does nothing."
He also said that the state government failed to stop police atrocities in Bhatta-Parsaul.
For now he is seated among UP Congress leaders, waving and smiling at the people of the state he hopes to woo. 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.
That Mr Gandhi will General the Congress' battle for elections is clear from the many posters welcoming him to Phulpur. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, is noticeably absent from most. Mr Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru are 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."
Mayawati 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 focussed 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.
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