To send a message that Congress is serious and will play an important role in the formation of next non-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday announced that the party will take out a ‘Congress Pratigya Yatra’ with the tagline ‘Hum Vachan Nibhayenge’ ahead of the assembly elections due early next year.
Priyanka Vadra, who is in Lucknow on a two-day visit, said the yatra would cover a distance of 12,000 kilometres and would pass through all major villages and towns.
Sources say the yatra will be focusing intensely on the potential seats. The date of the yatra is yet undecided though sources say it is likely to begin from Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.
Congress has also decided to start zone-wise election campaigns and programmes during the meeting.
Addressing a meeting of the advisory and political affairs committee of the UPCC, Priyanka Vadra said that the yatra would mobilise party workers across the state and also establish a contact with the people.
Programmes to be held during the yatra will be decided in phases. Besides Vadra, senior leaders including Pramod Tewari, Aradhana Mishra `Mona', Ajay Kumar `Lallu, Deepak Singh were present in the meeting.
Meanwhile, with a tagline “No government without us”, Congress works out the political line in battle ground Uttar Pradesh as Priyanka Gandhi gears to jump in for the intense electoral campaign. After a long wait and extended suspense over its electoral strategy, the Congress is now ready with a clear message of being a direct stakeholder in the formation of a non-BJP government post the crucial assembly polls early next year.
A political line of “No government without us”, is the narrative through which the grand old party aims to take a plunge into the electoral battle. A strategically planned narrative that is certain to boost the morale of the party cadres and pitch the party as a serious player in UP’s electoral battle.
Later in the day, Priyanka held a meeting with the election committee and decided on the selection process for candidates for the assembly elections. The meeting continued till late night.
In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for the 403-member assembly. Samajwadi Party bagged 47 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats.
