Rahul Gandhi says no alliance for UP polls; feels sad young Akhilesh ‘failed’

Mangalore Today News Network

Lucknow, Sep 23, 2016: The Congress will go it alone in next year’s assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi has said.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Gandhi also said Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had tolerated too much corruption and lawlessness that led to his inability to deliver on people’s aspirations. The failure of the young chief minister had left him sad, Gandhi said.

Gandhi is on a 2500-km ‘Kisan Yatra’ across Uttar Pradesh, seeking to revive the fortunes of the Congress in a state it once dominated before regional parties built along caste lines displaced it from power 27 years ago. Most political analysts give the party little chance in next year’s polls.

But Gandhi said the party will not have any pre-election alliance as it was not ready to dilute its “vision” for the state for votes.

“I feel the Congress should stand on its own and fight the 2017 assembly elections alone for its ideology and the policies,” he said.

“We want to give a vision to Uttar Pradesh. We want to show a path to the state.”

Gandhi said as a young chief minister Akhilesh had raised a lot of hope with his victory five years ago but only to fall short of people’s aspirations.

“Uttar Pradesh gave a big opportunity to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Although I am a leader of the opposition, I felt sad that a youth leader has failed to deliver,” Gandhi told HT late on Thursday.

“He should not have tolerated – corruption and goondaism, etc. If he had taken a strong stance earlier he would not have failed. This has harmed Uttar Pradesh. Five years have gone waste.”

In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have alternated in power alone or with allies for almost three decades. Gandhi said both parties had failed the people of the state for far too long.

The 46-year-old Congress leader said he respected Akhilesh and Mayawati – leaders of the SP and BSP – at a personal level but neither managed to deliver the paradigm shift that Uttar Pradesh needs to get on the road to prosperity.

“Kanshiramji and Mayawatiji did good work before she became chief minister. After the death of Kanshi Ram she threw his legacy to the winds,” Gandhi said.

“She has totally compromised and sold the movement. Why did Mayawati sell her movement for money? I have failed to understand this. She has not only harmed her own interest but also caused harm to Uttar Pradesh.”

Sharing his “vision” for Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi spoke of the state’s potential in agriculture, listing everything from food processing units and cold chains to marketing facilities in order to ensure farmers’ progress.

“Nobody believed in UP in the past 27 years. I have trust in UP. I do not know how and why? But I am absolutely convinced that UP has the potential to be the number one state in India,” he said.

“I told this to investors. I told them UP has big potential. They questioned what I said. I told them you will see this happening, if not today then tomorrow. Nobody realises this because no one has given the people of the state a vision.

“I think Uttar Pradesh wants a paradigm shift. Whether the Congress can provide the paradigm shift to the people of UP? This is for the Congress to decide. The Congress has the opportunity. It should grab this opportunity.”