Now time for Rahul to woo Dalits in UP

After Congress President Sonia Gandhi, it is now time for son Rahul to reach out to the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh and galvanise the party to take on the Mayawati government.

After Congress President Sonia Gandhi, it is now time for son Rahul to reach out to the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh and galvanise the party to take on the Mayawati government.

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Rahul's visit to his Amethi Lok Sabha constituency from Monday assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of his mother's visit to Rae Bareli where she walked the extra mile to listen to the problems of Dalits.

Sonia visited over a dozen Dalit villages during her three-day tour from August 10 and mingled with Dalit women, even entering their huts to see for herself their pathetic living conditions.

During his earlier visit this month, Rahul had spent a night with a Dalit family, and had once taken British Foreign Secretary David Milliband to a Dalit village in his constituency.

As Sonia and Rahul have been accusing the Mayawati government of not effectively implementing central schemes for the poor, the chief minister criticised the Congress chief's visit to the villages, calling it a sham.

The bitterness between the two parties has increased of late with SP terming as mistake its decision to extend outside support to the UPA, and Congress daring it to part ways.