Confident of a good show by party candidates in the ongoing Assembly poll in five states, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has now planned to extensively tour Uttar Pradesh by the year-end and galvanise the party cadres and leaders for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Sources said Rahul would address at least one rally in all five zones, including a grand rally in Lucknow. The Congress mandarins were reportedly busy chalking out a programme for the Congress president with the focus on regional parties — the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — to not underestimate them.
“Even as we were seriously looking for a grand alliance for next Parliament elections, both Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati were regularly targeting us or our leaders to drive home the point that the Congress had lost ground in UP,” quipped a senior Congress leader referring to some recent speeches of Akhilesh and Mayawati.
Preferring anonymity, the Congress leader said both the SP and the BSP were trying to harm the Congress in the ongoing Assembly polls in Central States but the results will show that the Congress is the only party which could dislodge the BJP from the country.
“Once we prove our mettle in these ongoing polls, Rahul Gandhi will start extensive tour of UP to further impress that the Congress was as strong in this large State as it was in other States and the party could be not taken lightly,” the Congress leader stressed.
The leader said besides chalking out other programmes for Rahul like roadshows, panchayats, chaupal, the party brass is planning some big rallies. The leader also revealed that while announcing rallies of Rahul Gandhi in mid-December, Congress leaders will not take names either of the SP, the BSP or other outfits but will highlight the motive of rallies to expose Prime Minister’s role in Rafale fighter jet deal, rising prices and corruption issues.
“The focus will also be on failure of the Central Government in fulfilling promises made by Narendra Modi during the campaigning for 2014 Parliament elections. Besides, the Congress rallies will aim to clearly send out the signal to the SP and the BSP that our party is the leading force to defeat the BJP in the 2019 poll. Hence, if they want to support the Congress in its ‘remove BJP’ mission, they should align with it to form a grand alliance,” he said.