Congress contesting UP polls to win and form govt: Ghulam nabi Azad

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who took part in a meeting at party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's residence to discuss strategy for the next year's UP Assembly polls, on Thursday, said the grand old party would contest the elections with an aim to win and form a government in UP.

"Strategies cannot be discussed with the media. No political party will discuss its poll strategies with media. One thing is clear that Congress will fight the elections to win and form government and we will fight elections according to that," he told media after the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Priyanka Gandhi, senior leaders Raj Babbar and Sanjay Singh, besides others.

When asked about Priyanka Gandhi's role in the campaign for UP polls, Azad said, "I will tell this to you all at an appropriate time..the actual campaign begins when poll dates are announced."

"Local leaders were also present at the meeting, as their inputs are vital to formulate any strategy. There were lot of senior leader and Congress will make use of their experience," he added.

Meanwhile, Babbar said their fight in UP is against rampant corruption during the successive governments there.

Earlier, BJP's Shrikant Sharma had said the Congress does not have any presence in the state and accused them of being hand-in-glove in the corrupt practices during successive Samajwadi Party and BSP governments in Uttar Pradesh.

Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit today thanked the Congress High Command for selecting her as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and expressed hope that the grand old party would emerge victorious in the politically crucial state.

Dikshit vowed to contest the Uttar Pradesh polls unitedly to give a tough challenge to the ruling Samajwadi Party, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.