Lucknow, Jan 17 Leaving the party cadre demoralised by admitting that Congress has been lying ‘defunct’ since the last few years, Uttar Pradesh Congress in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday asked the district leaders to gear-up and activate the workers till the booth level within a fortnight, before Party President Rahul Gandhi kicks off the campaign for 2019 Parliament elections, by holding a rally here in Lucknow.
Mr Azad also dropped hints of accommodating smaller parties, claiming that that they were willing to give a few seats to those, who wanted to forge an alliance with the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls.
To ensure a good turnout in Mr Gandhi’s rally, Mr Azad also reportedly tried to send a message among the office bearers that now, there will be no change in the state organisation.
Majority of the leaders had turned hostile amid news of removal of Azad, as well as of state president Raj Babbar, anytime.
Besides Mr Azad and Mr Babbar, the meeting was also attended by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, along with Pramod Tewari, Rani Ratna Singh, Rajaram Pal, CLP leader, Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’, MLA Aradhna Mishra ‘Mona’ and Brij Lal Khabri.
‘You all have been inactive in the last five years, but now since Congress is going alone in the next Parliament elections, so you all should come on your toes and constitute district, block, and booth level committees within a fortnight, before Mr Gandhi kicks off campaign for the 2019 Parliament elections,’ Mr Babbar said, while interacting with district presidents and other local leaders hailing from the Eastern Uttar Pradesh region, here.
Mr Azad claimed that the Party Organisation in UP was ‘defunct,’ when even he and present state president Mr Babbar, were looking after the Party affairs here in UP now, for about three years.
During their regime, the Party gave worst performance in last Assembly elections, by winning just seven seats.
Mr Azad asked the office bearers to ensure that maximum public and workers should come from the respective districts to attend Mr Gandhi’s rallies, particularly in Lucknow, as it should be a ‘Mega Event,’ sending a strong message across the state that Congress is as strong as it was three decades back.
Meanwhile, Mr Azad also claimed that the Party would welcome smaller political parties if they wanted to fight Parliament elections in alliance with them.
Speaking to media persons here on Wednesday, Mr Azad noted, “On two to four seats, there could be ‘give and
take strategy’, but at present, we are making preparations for contesting on all the 80 seats in the state”.
In a significant move, BSP and SP, part of Opposition’s Grand Alliance, had recently announced their tie-up in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls, sharing 38 seats each and keeping the Congress out of the alliance.
On reports that Congress was kept out of the BSP-SP combine as it was “weak”, Mr Azad hit back, “When elections are held, it will be known who is strong and weak”.
Congress had on January 13 declared that it will contest on all 80 Lok Sabha seats from the politically crucial state, on its own.
The senior Congress leader also expressed hope that his Party will double its tally of seats. It won only two seats from the state in the 2014 general elections and 21 seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
On whether the Congress will forge a coalition with other political players, Mr Azad said, “If any political party is willing to support the Congress, and Congress feels that it can fight the BJP, it will be definitely accommodated”.
Meanwhile, two times BJP MLA from Moradabad (West), Retd Major JP Singh, and former IPS officer Kush Saurabh, also joined the Congress on Wednesday.
Besides Mr Azad’s meeting, the Backward Department, headed by national coordinator Anil Saini, also held a meeting of the Department here at UPCC, to further strengthen their base among the OBC communities.
Mr Babbar, who heads the meeting, claimed that Congress had done the maximum for the OBC communities, while BJP, as well as the two regional parties- SP and BSP, had so far cheated the OBCs by making false promises.
