Rahul begins UP roadshow amid modest gathering

Ghaziabad, Mar 18 (UNI) Ahead of the seven-phase UP Assembly polls beginning next month, AICC member and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi today kicked off his party's campaign for the crucial elections, in which the Congress seeks to revive its fortunes in the country's most politically-important state.

Rahul, who is undertaking a three-day roadshow in the three districts going to polls in the first phase, entered Uttar Pradesh from Indirapuram here, where a modest crowd was present to receive him.

The young leader, who was two hours behind schedule, was received by UPCC chief Salman Khurshid, and activists of the NSUI, Youth Congress and the Purvanchal Jan Chetna Samiti, an association formed to safeguard the rights of people hailing from the eastern parts of the state. Rahul went around the 100 to 150-strong gathering, shaking hands with those present but did not address them.

Seated in a Land-Cruiser, being driven by family friend and former Union Minister Satish Sharma, the Amethi MP then led his cavalcade onto Muradnagar in neighbouring Meerut district.

UNI