JOIN USCongress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday blamed the BSP, BJP and SP for the problems of Uttar Pradesh and said these parties, during their successive regimes, never did anything for the development of the state as a result of which UP has lagged behind other states.
Addressing election meetings at Gonda and Deoria districts, Sonia said that the ‘politics of ideology' had been `deliberately destroyed' in the state. “Uttar Pradesh has lost its old glory.....many other states have surged ahead of UP in the past two decades'', she said.
“The people of UP are feeling cheated...the womenfolk do not feel safe....the lands of the farmers are being forcibly taken away and the law and order situation has worsened'', she said exhorting the people to support the Congress as it was the only party which could ensure development of the state.
The Congress president said that the UPA government had provided huge funds to for the development of UP, but they weren’t used properly. “We gave the state over Rs1 lack crore....where has the money gone?...How many power projects have come up?...how many factories'', she sought to know.
She also referred to the NRHM scam and irregularities in the implementation of the MNREGS. “Corrupt elements have pocketed large parts of the funds meant for development'', she added.
Sonia, in her speech also took a potshot at UP chief minister Mayawati for sacking several ministers from her cabinet. “It’s a joke...just before elections so many ministers were sacked...why not earlier'', she quipped.
She said that the BSP, BJP and SP were all birds of the same feather. “They have allied with each other at one time or the other'', Sonia said adding that the Congress intended to restore the lost glory of the state.
In an apparent bid to gain sympathy of the people, she also referred to the several deaths caused by Encephalitis in the eastern region of the state. Slamming the state government, Sonia said, “They were busy in looking after their own health and in the process, the people suffered”.
During her election rally at Gonda, some people protested against Union minister Beni Prasad Verma for his alleged long absence from the region. Verma was not allowed to speak by the protestors.