By IANS,
Lucknow : As Uttar Pradesh voted in the third phase of assembly polls Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi kept up his attack on Chief Minister Mayawati in his maiden rally at the state capital, accusing her of neglecting the common man.
Addressing an impressive crowd at the DAV College grounds in the crowded Moti Nagar locality, he made a passionate appeal to them to vote the Congress party to power.
“If you want to change Uttar Pradesh and put Uttar Pradesh on the fast track like Congress-ruled states, rise and vote for Congress,” he said amidst cries of “Rahul tum sangharsh karo; hum tumhare saath hain” (Rahul you lead the struggle; we are with you).
He hit out at the ruling Bahuijan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for doing “lip service through their false promises”.
In a melodramatic gesture, he even tore off a sheet of paper with something written on it to convey how poll promises made by those parties were meant to be treated.
“Whenever there is an election, these political parties go to town making all kinds of promises, which they never intend to fulfil. That is the reason these promises deserve what I am doing,” he said while tearing the sheet of paper and flinging it in the air.
Dressed in his usual white kurta-pyjama and sporting an unkempt beard, he said people being forced to migrate due to lack of employment opportunities in Uttar Pradesh.
He said the Metro in Delhi was constructed by workers from Uttar Pradesh and they also played a vital role in agriculture in Punjab and Haryana.
“He (the worker) eats half a meal but keeps working. He falls sick but works and one day passes away,” he said.
Hitting out at Mayawati, Gandhi said: “Your leaders do not come to you. They do not talk to you … How can they talk of development.”
Earlier, he also addressed a rally at Bakshi-ka-Talab, one of the rural assembly constituencies on the outskirts of the city.
“It is after a gap of 22 years that the Congress is in the thick of the electoral battle for Uttar Pradesh. This fight is aimed at building a new Uttar Pradesh in order to provide a future for the people of this state who have remained a target of neglect for more than two decades,” he said.
Attacking the BJP for playing “politics of religion”, he charged SP and BSP of “playing up caste only to serve their short sighted vested interests”.
“The BJP came (to power) four times. It did nothing. It took name of Lord Ram but did nothing. The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party came and sought votes on caste. They did nothing,” Gandhi said.
Rahul proposes to go a road-show in Lucknow Thursday.
Voting will be held here Sunday in the fourth phase of poll that shall cover 56 constituencies. The seven-phased poll in Uttar Pradesh ends March 3. The results would be out March 6.