New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra announced on Sunday that the party will not enter into an alliance with any political party and contest all the 403 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls on its own.
According to a tweet by the Uttar Pradesh unit of Congress, Priyanka Gandhi made the declaration considering the plea of the party workers.
Ruling out an electoral tie-up in Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi claimed that the leaders of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were nowhere to be seen even when the 2017 Unnao rape case and the Hathras gangrape-and-murder case in 2020 shocked the country, news agency PTI reported.
She asserted that only Congress was fighting for the people.
Priyanka said that the party fought for the people’s agenda over the last five years in the state and that on the basis of its organisational strength, it would go to the polls and give an opportunity to the party cadre, PTI reported citing sources in the Congress.
Calling it a “do-or-die” situation, Priyanka Gandhi addressed Congress workers at the Pratigya Sammelan - Lakshya 2022 in Bulandshahr’s Anoopshahr where she stressed on the importance of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections for the party.
She held talks with around 7,400 party workers from 14 districts of the state in Bulandshahr.
Priyanka Gandhi’s announcement on Congress going solo in the Uttar Pradesh election is significant considering that in recent days, the grand old party was seen favourably inclined towards Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
Priyanka Gandhi and the RLD chief had together travelled to Delhi from Lucknow recently in a Chhattisgarh government plane, triggering the speculation of an alliance.
Congress leader Pramod Krishnam was also seen at the launch of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) leader Shivpal Singh Yadav’s “rath yatra” in Mathura.
Meanwhile, asserting that the electoral contest can only be won by strengthening the party at the booth level, Priyanka Gandhi called upon Congress workers to bolster the booth committees.
She urged the party cadre to be active on social media and post all party activities on various online platforms.
The Congress General Secretary also hit at the ruling BJP as she alleged that the saffron party has no respect for the freedom movement as its leaders did not shed blood and sweat for the country’s independence.
She added that only leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and BR Ambedkar envisioned freedom for the country.
Priyanka Gandhi asserted that her party had not only brought development in the country, but also promoted brotherhood and harmony.
Targetting Centre over the rising fuel prices, she said for 70 years, the Congress ensured that the fuel prices did not shoot up above Rs 70 per litre.
However, in the last seven years, the BJP government has let the guard down, which has allowed the prices to shoot upwards of Rs 100 per litre, she added, as reported by PTI.
Priyanka Gandhi has been active in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the crucial assembly elections due early next year.
She is entrusted with the responsibility to revive the party’s electoral fortunes in the political heartland, where it could win only seven seats in the 2017 Assembly polls.
(With Agency Inputs)