Cong Will Play on Front Foot: Rahul Gandhi at Priyanka’s UP Rally

Using a cricket analogy, the Congress President said that the party will play on the front foot in every state.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia at Congress roadshow in Lucknow.

(Photo: PTI)

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday, 11 February, trained guns at PM Modi over the Rafale deal at Priyanka Gandhi’s maiden roadshow in Lucknow with the slogan ‘chowkidar chor hai.’ Addressing the crowd at the party’s Lucknow office, Rahul said that the ideology of the RSS and PM Modi needs to be defeated in the country.

Newly-appointed Congress General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi kicked off the party's mega roadshow in Lucknow on Monday with her brother Rahul. Congress General Secretary in-charge for western Uttar Pradesh Jyotiraditya Scindia also attended the roadshow.

The approximately 20-km roadshow started from the Amausi airport and culminated in the Nehru Bhawan office of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee.

Using a cricket analogy, the Congress President said that the party will play on the front foot and not on the back foot in the state.

“Congress will not play on back foot in any state. It will be on front foot... Look at those young men applauding. They are saying that <i>chowkidar</i> didn’t give employment to any one of us. They are saying that Narendra Modi had promised jobs to 2 crore people but he only benefited Anil Ambani.”

Rahul Gandhi, President, Congress.

Gandhi also asserted that it is important to encourage and empower ground-level politicians and party workers if Congress wants to win Uttar Pradesh.

Priyanka and Jyotiraditya were recently appointed by him as Congress general secretaries in charge of eastern and western UP, respectively, keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections expected in April-May.

In 2014, the Congress just managed to retain the Gandhi family constituencies of Amethi and Raebareli, as compared to the 21 it had won five years earlier. The party's vote share also dropped by almost 50 per cent between 2009 and 2014.

Eastern Uttar Pradesh, the area where Priyanka Gandhi will be active, is presently the strongholds of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(With inputs from PTI.)