LUCKNOW: The Congress on Saturday blew the poll bugle in Uttar Pradesh with a decision to take out a state-wide 'Pratigya Yatra: Hum Vachan Nibhayenge’ (Congress commitment: We will keep our word) soon.
The main aim of the yatra, likely to take off next fortnight, would be to present the Congress as an alternative in the 2022 assembly elections by exposing the BJP government "for not keeping promises.
With AICC general secretary and UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Lucknow for a two-day stay, the decision to take out the yatra was announced after she took a series of meetings to review the party’s poll strategy at Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters here on Friday and Saturday. UPCC chief Ajay Kumar Lallu confirmed that the decision to take out the yatra was final.
The party also decided to declare the candidates for the 2022 assembly elections well in advance so that they could get ample time to make a ground for themselves.
As per Congress sources, a distance of 12,000 km would be covered during the yatra led by senior party leaders. Reaching out to the people, the yatra would focus on the Yogi Adityanath government’s "failure" to keep its promises, rising inflation, poor health services, rising unemployment, corruption, and rising crime.
“The process to work out the finer details including the routes to be followed is on. The yatra may be divided into four or more parts to cover most of the cities and villages across Uttar Pradesh,” said a senior party leader.
Meanwhile, the Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) of the Congress passed a resolution to authorise Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to take a decision on the selection of candidates. “Priyanka Gandhi had been authorised to take a final call on the selection of candidates. However, the first list of about 40 candidates is ready. For short-listing of candidates on other seats, the PEC will meet again on October 5,” said a senior UPCC member.
Priyanka is also reviewing the functioning of the party’s organisational structure. Out of eight party zones, the organizational structure in four zones came for review on Friday while the functioning of units in the remaining four zones was scrutinized on Saturday.