The Congress bus yatra to shore up support ahead of next year’s assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, rolled into its second day on Sunday covering Rampur and Bareily.
The three-day yatra called “27 Saal, UP Behal Yatra” was launched from the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday and will end in Kanpur on Monday.
Congress’ chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit returned to Delhi from Hapur on Saturday following a throat-infection
The first night halt for the bus yatra on Saturday was at Moradabad where Congress leaders trained their fire on the BJP.
“People say Congress is losing connect with the public the bus rally is to change this line of thinking,” said Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal.
Top Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is the general secretary in-charge of party affairs in of UP, state unit chief Raj Babbar and Congress strategist Prashant Kishor are among those travelling in the bus.
At the stopover in Moradabad, Raj Babbar took on the BJP saying, “Sabka saath, sabka vikas is just a slogan for BJP. Congress is the only party which works on this idea.”
{{/usCountry}}At the stopover in Moradabad, Raj Babbar took on the BJP saying, “Sabka saath, sabka vikas is just a slogan for BJP. Congress is the only party which works on this idea.”
{{/usCountry}}He also criticised the central government for its handling of the situation in Kashmir.
“The way government is handling the situation in Kashmir is very shameful,” Babbar said.
A local Congressman, Gulab Nabi said the members of the yatra symbolised the inclusive nature of the party.
“The bus has members from every caste and religion and represents the Congress ideology of keeping everyone together,” Nabi said.
Afzal said that after transforming Delhi, Dikshit would the same in UP now.
The yatra, aimed at reaching out to the public and highlighting the alleged failure of successive governments in Uttar Pradesh in the past 27 years ever since the Congress is out of power there, will cover a total distance of 600km.
The yatra will be followed by a meeting of UP Congress in Lucknow on July 29 that will be attended by Rahul Gandhi.