Congress success revives party in UP

The success of Congress in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh has not only revived the party in the state after a long time, but also generated interest in leaders of other political parties to join it.     

"Some leaders, especially those who had parted ways when support base of Congress was on its wane in the past 20 years, have shown their interest in coming back and are in touch with senior leaders," party spokesman Subodh Srivastava told PTI.     

There are also some state-level leaders, who have shown keenness in joining the party which has made a big impact in these elections and has clearly indicated that Muslims and upper castes, its original votebank, have again started reposing faith in it.     

Though some of them are in touch with the central leaders, any decision on their return would be taken only after the completion of government formation at the Centre, he said.     

Srivastava said the results have clearly shown that the party'support base is on the rise and this would help in realising the ultimate goal of wresting power in the state in the 2012 assembly elections.     

Uttar Pradesh, which used to be the favourite hunting ground of Congress, gave 21 Lok Sabha seats to the party this time compared to nine in 2004.

Srivastava said fresh momentum would be given to the ongoing membership drive to bring in more youth as per the strategy worked out by party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi for revival of Congress in Uttar Pradesh.     

He said though SP and BSP have extended unconditional support to UPA at the Centre, Congress would oppose them in the state by going it alone.     

"The UPCC president, Rita Bahuguna Joshi has already stated that Congress has to woo back its votebank from SP, BSP and the RLD and this cannot be achieved without opposing them," he said.      

The Congress in the state would stick to its "go alone" policy after tasting success and not take the help of other parties, he added.