Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that if his party came to power in Uttar Pradesh, it would “turn it around” into the nation’s number one state in 10 years.
Embarking on a five-day mass contact programme from UP’s Barabanki district on Tuesday, Mr Gandhi said: “It is the Congress alone that can change UP: within 10 years the state will be a leader in all fields. We want UP to stand up with states like Haryana, Kerala and Andhra, where Congress governments have served the people with utmost care.”
Mr Gandhi faced protests in Lucknow on his arrival and in Barabanki as well when agitated partymen protested against ticket distribution. In Lucknow, supporters of former UPCC spokesman Subodh Srivastava tried to stop Mr Gandhi’s convoy while in Barabanki supporters of two Congress MPs, Beni Prasad Varma and P.L. Punia, clashed just before Mr Gandhi’s arrival.
Urging party workers to set aside personal differences, Mr Gandhi said it was UP’s lack of industrialisation that forced its youth had to migrate to states like Maharashtra and Karnataka seeking jobs. “In Delhi, when I ask people begging in the streets, they say they are from UP. This is the bitter truth, we must accept it. Why should they go there if they can get jobs here?” he asked.