Congress plans to take on government inside and outside Assembly

On Monday, when the Akhilesh Yadav government will place supplementary budget in the Assembly, the Congress MLAs will raise slogans and could possibly stage a walkout. Outside the Assembly, party workers and senior leaders will stage “gherao Vidhan Sabha” protest.

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All former Congress MPs and former Union Ministers from UP have been asked to participate in the protest and bring party workers from their respective regions. Leaders like Madhusudan Mistry, Mohsina Kidwai, Raj Babbar, Sanjay Singh, PL Punia are most likely to take part in the protest march to Vidhan Sabha.

All district units have been asked to bring workers to Lucknow for the protest. The party will take up issues like alleged deteriorating law and order situation, security of women, atrocities against Dalits, “unfulfilled” promises, neglect of minority, poor condition of madrasas and misuse of public money among others.

“Workers from all across the state have been called to gherao Vidhan Sabha against the SP government. In three years of the SP government, law and order has deteriorated,” said UP Congress chief Nirmal Khatri, who was busy planning the protest along with Congress Legislative Party leader Pradeep Mathur on Sunday.

Sources said that the party has decided to first gather workers at Laxman Mela Ground in the heart of the Lucknow, from where the protest march will head towards Vidhan Sabha.

“Overall, we are going to target the doublespeak of the SP government. They are not working to fulfil their promises and trying to fool people. We will also raise the issue of failure of this government in controlling the spread of communal tension in western UP and rise in the cases of anomalies related to recruitment in government jobs,” said Mathur. Later, MLAs will join the protest outside Assembly, he added.

The party is also planning to convene a meeting of state Congress leaders in Mathura next month to discuss these issues. “Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi will be invited for the convention, likely to take place on September 10 and 11,” said Mathur.