Congress to go solo in UP polls, contest all 403 seats: Priyanka

Bulandshahr: The Congress will contest all 403 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls on its own and emerge victorious in the electoral battle, party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Sunday.

Ruling out an alliance with any political party, she said the leaders of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (SP) were nowhere to be seen even when the 2017 Unnao rape case and the Hathras gangrape-and-murder case in 2020 rocked the country, adding that only the Congress was fighting for the people.

Addressing the party cadre at the Pratigya Sammelan – Lakshya 2022 in Anoopshahr here, the Congress general secretary stressed on the importance of the Uttar Pradesh polls for the party, calling it a “do-or-die” situation.

Emphasising that the electoral contest can only be won by strengthening the party at the booth level, she called upon the Congress workers to bolster the booth committees.

Priyanka Gandhi asked the Congress workers to be active on social media and post all party activities on various social networking platforms.

Taking a jibe at the ruling BJP, she said the saffron party has no respect for the freedom movement as its leaders did not shed blood and sweat for the country’s independence, and added that only leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and BR Ambedkar envisioned freedom for the country.

Priyanka Gandhi said the Congress has not only brought development but has also promoted brotherhood and harmony.

Hitting out at the BJP-led government at the Centre over the rising fuel prices, she said for 70 years, the Congress ensured that the fuel prices did not shoot up above Rs 70 per litre. However, in the last seven years, the BJP government has let the guard down, which has allowed the prices to shoot upwards of Rs 100 per litre.