UP Cong chief promises statewide revival of party 'within six months'

VIVEK TRIPATHI

Lucknow, Dec 31 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Brijlal Khabri has claimed that the Congress's base has been increasing rapidly in the state. He said that the party has grown a lot in the last two and a half months and will be revived in the coming six months.

In a conversation with IANS, Khabri said that the team building process was halted due to the preparations for the civic elections and would be announced after the Bharat Jodo Yatra if the polls are held.

When asked about the party's preparation for the urban body polls, Khabri said that the Congress would contest with full vigour and win in the municipal corporation.

In the recently held by-polls, the Dalit vote shifted to the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the absence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while the Congress tried to win back its vote bank.

The state unit president claimed that his party would get the full support of the Dalit community in the upcoming elections.

When asked about the existence of satraps like Nasimuddin Siddiqui and Salman Khurshid in the party and his plan to take the party forward, he said that the issue did not exist and the people had become aware. The awareness had led them to walk unitedly with Rahul Gandhi.

On factionalism in the party, he said that all disputes that arose within the party were settled through dialogue.

On Priyanka Gandhi not visiting UP after the Assembly elections, he said that she could not make it to the state because of work, including overseeing the Himachal Pradesh polls.

Khabri said that work was being done in the state under her direction and that dialogues took place frequently.

The UP leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra will be covered in three days. On this, the UPCC chief said that the state was not originally involved in the route planned, but was later included on requests by the state organisation.

He said that like other states, they wanted to keep pace with the party leadership.

When asked about the chances of opposition unity, when opposing parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal had refused the Congress' invitation to participate in the Yatra, Khabri said that the party aimed to curb hatred and would greet everyone along the way.

He apprised that the party would invite like-minded groups, including doctors, engineers and NGOs to join the Yatra.

He welcomed those who wanted to walk together to save the Constitution and said that Khap Panchayats of the state would be participating in the Yatra.

On the question of the SP and the BSP joining the Yatra, he said that the BSP was under the influence and control of the BJP.

When asked about the possibility of an alliance with the BSP, he refuted the claim made by former BSP MP Shyam Sundar Yadav and deemed it untrue.

On an alliance with the SP, he said that Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav had united in the past, so the possibility could not be denied.

Regarding the Congress' preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said that many MPs would be elected from the party.

Commenting on the Hath Se Hath Jodo Yatra, Khabri apprised that in the campaign, scheduled to be launched on January 26, the leaders will visit villages and talk about the 3800-km long Bharat Jodo Yatra.