Priyanka Gandhi avers 'only Congress' fighting BJP in UP; trains guns at ex-ally SP & BSP

Addressing party workers in Bulandshahr on Sunday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lashed out at ex-ally SP and BSP ahead of the UP polls. Maintaining that only the Congress party is fighting BJP in the state, he questioned SP and BSP leaders for their alleged absence during the agitations pertaining to the 2017 Unnao rape case, the 2020 Hathras gangrape-and-murder case and the death of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. To buttress her point, she claimed that more Congress leaders including the party's UP unit chief Ajay Lallu had gone to jail for raising people's issues than workers of SP and BSP. 

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra remarked, "In this state, neither SP nor BSP is fighting. Only Congress can fight this battle. Whenever there has been a crisis, all of you have hit the streets. You raised issues. You have conducted agitations. You hit the streets when COVID-19 happened. You provided relief to the people by distributing medical kits. Whenever you saw that people are encountering problems, you didn't take a step back. Where were SP workers? Where were BSP workers? Where were their leaders? Did they fight for Unnao? Did they fight for Hathras? Did they reach Lakhimpur-Kheri?"

Reiterating that the Sonia Gandhi-led party will go solo in the UP Assembly polls, she said, "I say with pride that over 50,000 office-bearers have undergone training. In the next one-one and a half months, we will complete the training of two lakh office-bearers. I want to say with pride that more than 18,700 workers and office-bearers have gone to jail in the last one and a half years. They have been in jail from three days to three months. Our own president went to jail for 28 days during the COVID-19 period. I want to ask how many workers and office-bearers of SP and BSP went to jail in the last one and a half years? Why does the BJP government and leaders not attack SP and BSP?"

Congress' thrust on UP polls

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra faces an uphill task of reviving the party in UP where it won only 7 seats in the 2017 Assembly polls. On 23 October, she flagged off the 'Pratigya Yatra' in Barabanki. During the course of the Yatra which culminated on 1 November, Congress leaders held multiple public meetings to ensure that the people are well acquainted with the promises. On this occasion, she also unveiled Congress' 7 promises for the UP polls which include the waiver of farm loans and electricity bills and government jobs to 20 lakh people. 

In another major announcement, the Congress general secretary revealed that any disease will be treated free of cost if her party wins the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. She added that the government shall bear each patient's treatment expenses up to Rs.10 lakh. Explaining the rationale for this decision, Vadra mentioned, "Everyone saw the dilapidated condition of the health system of UP due to government neglect during the COVID-19 period and now during the fever spread in the state."

Here are its key election promises: 

• Allocation of 40% of election tickets to women
• Class 12 pass girls will get smartphones & girls who have cleared graduation shall get electric scooty
• Complete waiver of farm loans
• Procurement of wheat and paddy at Rs.2500 per quintal and procurement of sugarcane at Rs.400 per quintal
• The electricity bill of consumers will be reduced by half & the bills during the COVID-19 period will be waived
• Rs.25,000 for each household affected owing to the COVID-19 crisis
• Government jobs to 20 lakh persons
• Three free gas cylinders per year
• Free travel for women in government buses
• Women will be appointed to 40% of the new government jobs keeping in mind the reservation policy
• Rs.1000 monthly pension for old widows
• ASHA and Anganwadi workers will be paid an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month
• 75 schools named after women personalities will be set up to impart skill training