The Congress in UP is getting ready to serve old wine in new bottles. After publicly denouncing caste-based politics, the UP Congress is promoting just that — albeit, under a new cover. The Congress will now take out seven yatras in Lucknow on June 30. Each yatra will be dedicated to one particular community.
The yatras will begin from different parts of the state capital and will converge at Chinhat, on the outskirts of Lucknow, where a discussion on the role of martyrs will be followed by an open air programme.
The yatra that will begin from Ujariagaon village will be dedicated to the memory of Vira Pasi, Uda Devi and her husband Makka Pasi. These three were freedom fighters and the yatra in their memory will be led by Congress leader Ram Krishna who is also in charge of the party’s SC/ST cell. The yatra is obviously designed to placate the Pasi community, which is a sub caste of the dalit community, and win them over to the Congress fold.
Another yatra will begin from Hussainabad to honour the Shia martyrs. This aims at winning Shia support.
The Shia community in Lucknow has been known to be supporters of BJP and the Congress is now keen to make inroads in this vote bank. One yatra is being planned from Umaria village in Mahona in memory of Raja Digvijay Singh who was the first landlord to challenge British Raj. Congress leader Sunita Singh will lead this yatra.
Two other yatras will begin from Malihabad and Kaiserbagh but details of these are yet to be finalised.
The day long yatras are being held under the banner of the ongoing programme “Sanjhi Shahadat, Sanjhi Virasat” that is being run by the Anti-Communal Front, set up by the UP Congress.
“The idea behind yatras is to pay tributes to unknown martyrs of the India freedom struggle, belonging to different communities. These martyrs remain unsung and there is no caste angel to it,” said UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi.