‘Congress fighting to form next UP govt’

All-India Congress Committee general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad flagged off two yatras in two different directions here on on Sunday.

Talking to the media, Mr Azad said that the Congress campaign will continue uninterrupted.

“Last month we could not hold many rallies due to the Parliament session, but now the entire focus is on Uttar Pradesh. These yatras will cover over 65 districts in the next one month.”

Saying that this time the Congress is not working towards increasing its numerical strength in the assembly, Mr Azad said, “We’ll fight to form the next government. The UP people have seen SP, BSP and BJP governments more than once in the past 27 years. They are yearning for a change — a change that sweeps aside casteism, communalism and regionalism. The Congress is the only party that can take everyone together and provide a pro-development and peaceful atmosphere.”

The first yatra, led by Congress CM candidate Sheila Dixit, will travel from Lucknow to Bara-banki and Bahraich. Senior leaders, including Sanjay Sinh, Shri Prakash Jaiswal, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Zafar Ali Naqvi and Bhagwati Prasad Chaudhary, will accompany her.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar is leading the second yatra, which is go from Lucknow to Faizabad, Sultanpur and Amethi. Party leaders Pramod Tiwari, Salman Khurshid, P. L. Punia , Rajaram Pal, Santosh Singh and R. A. Prasad will accompany him.

During these yatras, the Congress leaders will interact with party workers at the district level and also address small meetings on the theme ’27 Saal, UP Behaal’.