'Akhilesh Yadav active only during election': Priyanka Gandhi lambasts SP as UP polls loom

Addressing a massive rally in Moradabad on Thursday ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tore into SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. Contending that the former UP CM became active only at the time of election, she pointed out that Congress workers had gone to jail for raising people's issues in contrast to SP. On this occasion, Vadra accused both SP and BSP of perpeutating the politics of caste and religion akin to BJP and lambasted the governance during their tenure in power. 

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra remarked, "Why have Akhilesh (Yadav) and his party become active only during election? Where were they in the last 5 years when Congress was fighting on the streets? Over 18,500 Congress workers were in jail. Our president was in jail for 28 days during the COVID-19 period."

"Some people say that BJP will win again by dividing society. Why? Because the reality is that those who are considered the main opposition party today are not setting the agenda of development. They also want to perpuate the same kind of politics. SP and BSP have also taken forward the politics of caste and religion. You have seen casteism and hooliganism in SP government and loot during the BSP regime," she added. 

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 October 23, she flagged off the 'Pratigya Yatra' in Barabanki. During the course of the Yatra which culminated on November 1, 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. Some of the party's other promises are the allocation of 40 percent of election tickets to women, the procurement of wheat and paddy at Rs 2500 per quintal and procurement of sugarcane at Rs 400 per quintal, three free gas cylinders per year, free travel for women in government buses and an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month for ASHA, Anganwadi workers.