Rahul Gandhi to launch UP kisan yatra for 2017 poll

The Congress is gearing up to re-launch Rahul Gandhi in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, but organisational challenges remain on the ground. In 2012, the party could bag only 28 of the 403 seats in UP despite an aggressive campaign by the Congress vice-president. The result was marginally up from 22 seats in the 2007 Assembly polls.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had, then, attributed the poor show to a weak organisation and infighting among state leaders.

Despite the tall claims by the leaders, the situation on the ground has not changed much as far as addressing the organisational gaps are concerned, say sources.

Ahead of the 2017 polls, Rahul Gandhi is set to criss-cross the state by launching a massive 25-day foot march from Deoria in eastern UP on Tuesday. The march, called kisan padyatra, is likely to culminate in a big rally in either Ghaziabad or Meerut in western UP, according to party functionaries.

Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow will be a top up over two separate cavalcades in which senior leaders are covering parts of the state.

Desperate to improve its tally in politically crucial UP, the home state of both Sonia and Rahul, the party recently roped in big names to woo voters.

While veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad was made the general secretary in charge of UP, actor-turned politician Raj Babbar was named the state unit chief in a quick reshuffle.

Further, to win over the crucial 13 per cent Brahmin vote bank, the Congress broke its tradition and did not shy away from naming three-term Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial nominee. Her father in law, Uma Shankar Dikshit, was a Congress veteran from UP and she, too, had won the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat in the 1985 polls.

Organisational weakness is not the only problem the Congress managers have to contend with. Over the past two decades, the party has failed to bridge the gap between workers and voters.

The Congress plans to connect with around 25,000 households per block over a month-long drive starting September. The party aims to cover 800 blocks a month. However, rolling out the drive would be a big logistical challenge for the managers.

Usually, door-to-door campaigns are carried out by the respective candidates weeks before the polling day.

Sources said there is a concern the party does not count in state politics and is usually not seen fighting on the ground whenever the elections approach.

Party managers said the feedback from people during the campaign would be reflected in the poll manifesto.