Downplay hike, Rahul tells party

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Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked party leaders to shift the blame for price rise on the state government and approach the voters with fresh enthusiasm.
“The Centre is certainly not responsible for the increase in prices of vegetables and fruits. It is for the state government to check hoarding and black-marketing,” he said at the concluding session of the two-day meeting of the UP Congress coordination committee here.

He said that the Centre has taken all possible steps to check the prices of wheat and rice but the cost of fuel was not in the hands of the central government as it was set as per the international crude oil prices. “The Mayawati government has failed to check hoarding which has led to an escalation of prices of essential commodities,” he pointed out.
Mr Gandhi, in a significant statement, said that there was no need for Congressmen to be defensive on any issue. “The 2G scam has no impact and relevance in the rural interiors. You must go out there and raise issues of local corruption that impact the lives of people there,” he said.
Mr Gandhi asked partymen to highlight the atrocities being heaped on backward and dalits in UP and cited the Banda case as an example.
He went on to authorise the National SC/ST Commission chairman P.L. Punia and Bahraich MP Kamal Kishore Commando to pay more attention on 86 reserved constituencies in UP.
The Congress MP said that the party should focus on “sadak, samasya aur sangathan” while preparing for the next Assembly elections.
“Be positive, work harder and believe in yourself and there will be no need to be demoralised. The results will be even more surprising that they were in the last Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, briefing reporters, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said that the party would announce its candidates by May 31 so that the nominees have sufficient time to prepare for polls.
“We are ready for elections in 2011 and also in 2012,” he said.
Mr Singh said that the party would set up committees at the district level to monitor the flagship schemes of the Central government and misuse of central funds, if any.
UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said that the party would intensify its agitation against the Mayawati government and highlight the lack of development and deterioration in the law and order situation.