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Cong to contest UP poll under Priyanka: Khursheed
Former union minister Salman Khursheed said here on Sunday that the Congress would contest the 2022 state assembly elections under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi and would not go for alliance with any political party
Former union minister Salman Khursheed said here on Sunday that the Congress would contest the 2022 state assembly elections under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi and would not go for alliance with any political party. The party manifesto would reflect issues faced by the common man in the state, he said.
Khursheed and Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrenate were here to interact with the public. They went to several localities to know about people’s problems so that a suitable election manifesto could be drafted.
Talking to media persons, Khursheed said Priyanka Gandhi was the face of the party in Uttar Pradesh. “Neither has Priyanka Gandhi commented on who would be the chief ministerial candidate, nor are we authorized to say so. For us, the face of Priyanka Gandhi is enough. It is under her direction that we are travelling to all corners of Uttar Pradesh for drafting a public connect election manifesto,” said Khursheed, who made it clear that the party would not go for an alliance.
When asked about young faces like Jitin Prasada going away from the Congress, he said that if one or two people left, this did not mean that young leaders were leaving the party.
He denied that the Congress was weak at the organizational level in Uttar Pradesh.
“If a party wins the election, then the organization appears big, otherwise small. We are going for election with ‘soul’ of the Congress and winning or losing is not a criterion. We want the citizens of UP to be happy and if that happens, we are successful,” said Khursheed.
On being asked if Muslims and Dalits had gone away from the Congress, Khursheed said if that was the case, efforts were being made to bring them back into the Congress fold.
Supriya Shrenate said they had travelled to Bahraich, Meerut, Kanpur, Ayodhya, Jhansi and Gorakhpur divisions, to interact with the locals and to know their problems.
“Priyanka Gandhi ruled out preparing a manifesto while sitting with experts in Lucknow and asked us to travel and get feedback from the public so that a manifesto could be drafted to which the people would relate. Public complaints were similar in various parts of the state and included inflation, stray animals, unemployment, mismanagement of Covid, farmer and labour exploitation and women security etc,” she said.
