Rahul Gandhi kicked off the Congress’ campaign for the UP assembly election on Monday with a stirring call to party cadres to oust the Mayawati government. At a mammoth rally in Phulpur (Allahabad) on the occasion of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary, Rahul targeted the Mayawati regime on the issues of corruption and bad governance.
The venue was significant as it was the constituency from where Nehru first contested.
“At one time, Nehru was the MP from Phulpur. Now mafias are representing this seat,” Rahul said in a reference to criminal and ex-MP Atiq Ahmed. He blamed both Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav for the criminalisation of politics in UP and the large-scale corruption in the state.
Rahul also hit Mayawati where it hurt the most, saying the Centre was going all out for Dalits’ welfare. “The Centre has allotted Rs7,000 crore for procurement from firms run by Dalits,” he said.
“Until and unless the people of UP awaken, they will continue to get governments like these (under Mayawati and Mulayam). People from UP will continue to migrate to Delhi, Punjab and Maharashtra for livelihood. But once the people of UP decide to change their destiny, UP can surpass all other states within five years,” Rahul said. “Till when will you keep working as labourers in Punjab, and till when will you beg for work in Delhi and Maharashtra? This is a question I want to ask the people of UP,” Rahul said.
“Wherever you look in UP today, there is corruption all around. One has to pay money to file an FIR. Even if there is a rape, the victim has to pay for the FIR to be lodged. The situation was no different under Mulayam when goondas were virtually in charge of police stations,” Rahul said angrily.
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