Rahul Gandhi to hold 12 rallies in a month in UP

NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address around a dozen rallies in Uttar Pradesh in a month starting the first week of February.

The Congress chief is likely to address a rally in Lucknow after his Patna rally on February 3. The venues and dates for the other 11 rallies will be decided by the state leaders in the coming days.

On Saturday, ET had reported that party has decided to focus on 25 Lok Sabha seats in UP. Rahul’s rally will also be planned focusing on regions where party has strong presence and greater winning chances.


During the campaign, Congress would focus on the plight of farmers and unemployment and all party leaders would cite the example of farmloan waivers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh to farmers.

Former SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who has floated an independent party, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP), was in Delhi on Friday and was trying to meet Congress leaders for an alliance in the state. In the past too, Shivpal had met three senior Congress leaders from UP over alliance talks. Shivpal has been saying that no opposition alliance can take place without Congress in it. However, Congress is skeptical of Shivpal and feels he has been propped by the BJP to divide the opposition votes. Currently, there is no decision on Shivpal. However, most of the party leaders are said to be uncomfortable with Shivpal in the alliance.