By IANS,
Lucknow : The Congress in Uttar Pradesh Saturday took out marches and organised blood-donation camps, besides distributing sweets, fruits and medicines amongst the poor on the occasion of party general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s 40th birthday.
Congress workers also used the occasion to garner support for the party for the 2012 assembly elections in the state by reaching to the masses, both in rural and urban areas, and highlighting the achievements of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
“Besides holding the normal celebrations, party activists got connected with the masses with our slogan ‘Ek ho jao…Congress lao, Pradesh bachao’ (Get united…Vote Congress to power and save the state) and appealed to the public to bring a Congress government in the state for its all-round development,” Congress spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh told IANS.
In Amethi, the parliamentary constituency of Rahul Gandhi, a number of social gatherings were organised by the Sultanpur district unit of the Congress, where the party workers were seen dancing to the beat of drums and setting off fire crackers.
Women in Amethi’s Semra village, where Rahul Gandhi and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had spent a night during their visit in January 2009, held prayers for their leader, prepared a birthday cake with his name on it and sang Bhojpuri songs in his praise.
On the occasion, cricketer R.P. Singh also inaugurated the first Vision Centre of the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre in Rae Bareli.
The centre will provide eye-care treatment to the poor, party officials said.