New Delhi: Taking the battle to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s turf, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday launched her party’s campaign in Varanasi for the 2017 U.P. Assembly elections.
Ms. Gandhi flew into Varanasi for a day-long programme in the constituency and was led by hundreds of bikers, waving party flags from the airport to the heart of the city.
The Congress president is also set to participate in a road show which would take her to various parts of the city.
Her choice of starting the campaign from Varanasi for the Assembly elections scheduled next year is significant given the fact that it sends a signal that Congress is daring Mr. Modi on his home turf.
This is Ms. Gandhi’s first visit to Varanasi after Mr. Modi became Prime Minister.
Ms. Gandhi is scheduled to visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the evening to offer prayers.
She is accompanied by Sheila Dikshit, the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate in the State, AICC general secretary Gulam Nabi Azad and UPCC chief Raj Babbar besides senior party leaders Pramod Tiwari and Sanjay Singh.
The Congress has launched a campaign dard-e-banaras to highlight lack of development in Varanasi, which Mr. Modi is representing for over two years in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress is out of power for 27 years in Uttar Pradesh and is projecting that the State has gone from bad to worse in last 27 years through a campaign called 27 saal UP behal.
Varanasi is a key place in eastern Uttar Pradesh having some 160 of the 403 constituencies in the State.
The Congress had only won two seats — Amethi and Rae Bareli — in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The U.P. Assembly elections outcome will also set the stage for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor has been roped in by the Congress for the Assembly polls.
Mr. Kishor was Mr. Modi’s strategist in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and helped Nitish Kumar in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls.
Bureau Report
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