Opinion Divided on Rahul Gandhi's Performance in UP


Opinion Divided on Rahul Gandhi's Performance in UP
New Delhi: Opinion was divided on the success or otherwise of Rahul Gandhi's hard campaign in Uttar Pradesh during which he toured 207 constituencies. With Congress appearing to be winning only 28 seats in the 403-member House, the 'Mission UP 2012' by Rahul is ending up adding only six more seats to its tally in the previous assembly election. The tally was far less compared to the leads secured by Congress in 95 assembly segments of the 22 Lok Sabha constituencies that the party had won in 2009. Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the results show that this is the "second consecutive defeat for Rahul" in Uttar Pradesh, while former Union minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad gave him credit for strengthening his party. "Rahul Gandhi has worked very hard. Congress has got strengthened due to Rahul in Uttar Pradesh. Victories and defeats are part of elections and people decide it. Whatever Congress has gained in UP is due to Rahul. He has made the party visible in the state," the RJD chief said. BJP President Nitin Gadkari said, "...Congress party had made the elections a prestige issue for Rahul Gandhi. The results have come as a big shock for the party." Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid, Ambika Soni, Digvijay Singh and Janardan Dwivedi hailed the leadership of Rahul maintaining that he has made "immense contribution" to end the "misrule" of Mayawati. What has really come as a rude shock to the party is that it performed miserably even in its pocket borough of Raebareli and Amethi, where it won only two of the ten seats. Congress had won seven of these seats in the last election. The party also fared badly in Bundelkhand region for which the UPA government announced a special package after Rahul's initiative.
Source: PTI