To rejuvenate the party after its worst electoral drubbing in Assembly polls, workers and local leaders of UP Congress Committee advocated that the party should immediately name candidates after Chief Minister Adiyanath Yogi and his Deputy, Keshav Prasad Maurya resign from their Parliamentary constituencies.
“Fighting lok Sabha by-polls in Gorakhpur and Phoolpur will give the party an opportunity to establish itself. Proper campaigning with astute planning could worry Yogi Adityanath as Gorakhpur is very close to his heart,” said a senior Congress leader.
“The party has the potential and also good candidates. The only thing missing is the confidence. After paying a heavy price by alligning with Samajwadi Party, its high time that the party brass decided candidates for both seats as bypolls were announced,” the leader asserted.
“Workers and local leaders may be frustrated by the recent defeat. But we want to show the people, that Congress was still the best party which could safeguard secular values of the society,” said the leader.
The leader opined that the Congress should distance itself from Samajwadi Party as the former had to suffer for lawlessness and jungle raj in the state.
“We can still corner Yogi and his team in Gorakhpur. After assessing the initial days of BJP regime, people have realised that the promises made by PM Narendra Modi and its chief Amit Shah during poll campaign have once again been fake promises,” quipped another leader.
“The BJP stalwarts had promised that as a BJP government comes to power, the same night farmers loans will be waived off and the slaughter houses will be banned. A week down the line, Finance minister Arun Jaitely refused any move to waive off farmers loan and Yogi is silent on ban on abattoirs. The BJP regime is only busy in cosmetic exercises,” commented the former minister.
Referring to sources, the leader said that toeing Modi’s line of hiking prices of essesntials and household commodities, the Yogi reguime was also set to levy 5 per cent extra tax on fuel to collect additional revenue.