UP needs Congress to eradicate mafia raj: Rita

Allahabad, Apr 9 (UNI) All-India Mahila Congress president and party candidate from Allahabad (south) seat in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly polls Rita Bahuguna Joshi said ''the Congress is the only party which can eradicate mafia raj from the state.'' ''Its painful...UP has not taken even a single step towards development after the Congress leadership. During Congress rule, UP was on the path to development but after that, the whole state is lagging behind,'' Ms Joshi said while addressng a press conference here.

''The present and previous non-Congress governments are responsible for this situation. The Samajwadi Party (SP)-led UP government was always involved in encouraging crime and even the state police was found harassing people,'' the former mayor of Allahabad alleged.

She further held the present MLA of Allahabad for the ''dismal'' condition of the Allahabad south constituency.

Answering a question related to the current defeat of the Congress in some states, she said, ''it was the result of internal disputes.'' This year, the Congress has fielded Ms Joshi, daughter of former state Chief Minister Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit president Kesharinath Tripathi, who had been winning from the seat since 1989.

UNI