Delhi assembly elections: Congress promises separate ministry for Purvanchalis

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday promised to create a separate ministry and budget for Purvnchali people in Delhi if the party wins the February 5 assembly election.

"We are making two important announcements today. There will be a separate ministry and a separate budget sub-plan for the people of Purvanchal if the Congress is elected to power in the upcoming Delhi assembly polls so that issues related to their health and education can be addressed," Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Akhilesh Prasad Singh said while making the announcement at the Delhi PCC office.

He said that people from Purvanchal have contributed to making Delhi a world-class city but when it comes to their welfare needs, the Delhi government has failed to do anything substantial and that only the Congress can take care of their needs.


People from eastern UP and Bihar are referred to as Purvanchalis and they are one of the biggest electoral segments in Delhi, whom every party is trying to woo ahead of the election.

Third Rahul rally cancelled
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's scheduled rally on Friday was cancelled "on account of poor health", the third such cancellation in three days. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said Gandhi was yet to fully recover from illness and that he would resume campaigning once he is fit, even as she dismissed as "false" the BJP charge that Gandhi was scared of campaigning in Delhi, fearing a poor Congress show.

Asked why Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and All India Congress Committee general secretary Priyanka Gandhi too had yet to campaign in Delhi, Shrinate said they too would campaign at the right time.