Rahul to address division-level meetings of Cong leaders in UP

Lucknow, Nov 12 (UNI) In a bid to rejuvenate the sagging morale of party workers in Uttar Pradesh ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the newly-formed UP Congress Co-ordination Committee today announced to organise division-level public meetings to be addressed by AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.

UP Congress president and chairperson of the Co-ordination Committee Rita Bahuguna Joshi said here the party would organise four division-level conferences of party leaders from the block, district and town level in the coming days. These conferences would be followed by public meets to be addressed by the Amethi MP.

The UP Congress would also organise a general body meeting of Pradesh Congress Committee members in Kanpur early next year. ''On the second and last day of the meeting, AICC President Sonia Gandhi would address a public meeting,'' she said after the first meeting of the Co-ordination Committee.

The second meeting of the newly-set up committee would take place in Jhansi in January.

''The disciplinary committee of the UPCC has found that some leaders had worked against the party candidates in the assembly elections. All those who have been found guilty would be expelled from the party,'' she said without specifying the names or the number of such leaders.

To a poser, Ms Joshi said the state Congress would raise issues of public importance in the state legislature, before the Governor and on streets. ''We have to show that Congress is a responsible and constructive opposition,'' she added.

Ms Joshi said the state Congress would launch a state-wide agitation if police failed to take action against the Khadi Board Chairman for his reported remarks against Mahatma Gandhi in Shikohabad on November 3. ''We had approached police, but they refused to lodge an FIR...even the DM has not taken action,'' she added.

After attending the session of the newly-formed Co-ordination Committee, the Amethi M P interacted with over 18 delegations comprising leaders of frontal organisations, ex-MPs and MLAs and leaders from the SC/ST and minority cells.

The committee is headed by Ms Joshi and has among its members AICC General Secretaries Mohsina Kidwai and Janardan Dwivedi, Union Minister Mahavir Prasad, former Chief Minister Ram Naresh Yadav and several former PCC presidents, including Salman Khursheed, who is also a special invitee.

AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh, who is in-charge of Congress affairs in UP, earlier this week interacted with UPCC office-bearers ahead of the AICC General Secretary's visit.

Other members include Union Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, former PCC chief Arun Kumar Singh Munna and Jagdambika Pal, former CLP leader Pramod Tiwari, Union Minister Akhilesh Das and six AICC secretaries from UP -- Rajiv Shukla, Nirmal Khatri, Bhola Pandey, Jitin Prasad, Abdul Mannan and Vivek Bansal.

Incidentally, this is the young MP's first visit to the state Congress headquarters here at Mall Avenue.

UNI