A church, an Islamic seminary, a temple and interactions with dalit and Muslim students were a part of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s itinerary in Lucknow on Friday.
A church, an Islamic seminary, a temple and interactions with dalit and Muslim students were a part of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s itinerary in Lucknow on Friday.
The Congress vice-president visited St Cathedral Church in Lucknow where he offered prayers and met the priests. He went to the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama where he interacted with students. Mr Gandhi visited the Ambedkar Hostel for dalit students and offered prayers at the Raidas temple located on the campus.
Mr Gandhi also announced Rs 40 lakhs for the renovation of the hostel. He also garlanded a statue of Valmiki before starting his road show. Two Congress Rajya Sabha MPs, P.L. Punia and Pramod Tiwari, would provide Rs 20 lakh each from the MP Development Fund. During the road show, he also stopped at a Gurudwara in Yahiyaganj to offer prayers.
It was clear that the Congress vice-president wanted to display “Sarv Dharam Sambhav,” an Indian concept of religious harmony. His interactions with dalit and Muslim students were aimed at reaching out to the youth in these communities since they now form an important part of the voters.
According to sources, Mr Gandhi spoke to the students about the problems they face and promised to help them in any way he could.
Senior Congress leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit, Raj Babbar and Pramod Tiwari were present during these visits.
Mr Gandhi began his road show on Friday evening from Parivartan Chowk, accompanied by Mrs Sheila Dikshit, the Congress chief ministerial candidate and UPCC president Raj Babbar.
Thousands thronged the streets of Lucknow from where the convoy passed. The crowd cheered Mr Gandhi, threw rose petals and welcomed him all along the route that was mainly restricted to the old city area. Speaking at Chowk in the old city, he hit out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ignoring the interests of the farmers. He explained that Congress was committed among others things to work for complete waiving of farmers debts and halving the power bill for irrigation. Mr Gandhi also reiterated the need for a separate Kisan Budget and said that he would be giving suggestion for a separate Kisan budget to Finance Minister Arun Jaitely soon. Mr Gandhi recalled his struggle to prevent the government from acquiring the land of farmers in Bhatta Parsaul and said that the Modi government had attempted to usurp land from the farmers thrice. He said that the Congress party was committed to working for complete waiving of farmers debts and halving the power bill for irrigation. Meanwhile, in a related development, ABVP activists put up posters near the Lucknow University ridiculing Mr Gandhi. The posters ask children “Pogo na dekho, Pappu dekho”.
