E-Paper
Laggard leaders earn Rahul wrath
Congress ministers and MPs from Uttar Pradesh on Friday earned the wrath of party leader Rahul Gandhi for lack of enthusiasm and attention in the ongoing campaign in the BSP-ruled state.
Congress ministers and MPs from Uttar Pradesh on Friday earned the wrath of party leader Rahul Gandhi for lack of enthusiasm and attention in the ongoing campaign in the BSP-ruled state.
At the campaign committee meeting for the UP polls, Gandhi is learnt to have told the ministers and MPs to “focus on bigger issues of corruption, mis-governance and deteriorating law and order situation” rather than “harping” on FDI.
According to an MP who attended the meeting and refused to be identified, Gandhi told them that FDI in retail is not an election issue in UP.
The ire was apparently directed at MPs Sanjay Singh (Sultanpur) and Praveen Singh Aron (Bareilly) who had opposed the decision to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand retail.
For the elections, the Congress has divided UP into 10 zones and assigned each to the 10 Union ministers from the state.
Sources said the Congress general secretary was upset with some ministers and MPs “who make a beeline to wherever he goes”.
“People in UP want a change. We need to campaign aggressively and go with full force in the elections,” another MP quoted Gandhi as saying.
The Amethi MP is also perturbed about reports suggesting wrangling within the UP Congress over distribution of tickets. He has sought regular updates from UP leaders about the progress in implementation of his mass contact programme in the state.
