After kicking up a political storm in western UP with his “padyatra” and Kisan Maha Panchayat, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will now be travelling to Purvanchal later this week to mobilise the party.
The UP Congress, on the other hand, will be reaching out to dalits in Uttar Pradesh through dalit sammelans.
According to sources, Mr Gandhi will be touring Purvanchal “anytime this week”. The date and duration of Mr Gandhi’s programme is being kept a closely guarded secret.
Sources further added that during his Purvanchal visit, Mr Gandhi would make efforts to mobilise the youth by interacting with them and understanding their problems.
“Keeping in mind the backwardness of the region, Mr Gandhi will interact with the youth and emphasise the growing unemployment under the non-Congress governments in UP. Since Purvanchal records the maximum migration of youth, he will compare and contrast the situation in Purvanchal with that of states like Haryana and Maharashtra where the Congress is in power,” said a senior party leader from Delhi.
Mr Gandhi, in Purvanchal, will keep local party leaders and Congress men away from his tour — like he did in western UP. Some Youth congress leaders, however, are likely to accompany Mr Gandhi.
Party sources said that he would also encourage the youth to join the Congress and play a decisive role in moulding their own future. This is expected to give a much-needed boost to the Congress membership in the region.
Mr Gandhi is expected to visit important cities in Purvanchal including Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
While Mr Rahul Gandhi will be focusing on youth in Purvanchal after farmers in western UP, the UP Congress has decided to train the spotlight on dalits.
The state unit of the party plans to hold “dalit sammelans” in UP to apprise the dalit community about the welfare schemes initiated by the centre for them and also make them aware of their rights. The “dalit sammelans”, which will be attended by the party’s dalit leaders including National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman P.L. Punia, will also seek to learn about the problems being faced by dalits and the atrocities being heaped upon them in the present state government.
The first sammelan is scheduled to be held in Allahabad on August 13 and then the next one in Lucknow on August 20, which also happens to be the birth anniversary of late Rajiv Gandhi.
Through these “dalit sammelans”, the Congress plans to make inroads into the dalit vote bank of the Bahujan Samaj Party and cash in on the alleged disillusionment of dalits with the BSP.