PTI

Lucknow, February 24

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra mentioned the concentrate on caste and faith in Uttar Pradesh politics has made politicians complacent, making them sideline the actual points.

Gandhi accepted that the Congress organisation had weakened within the state over the previous few a long time however the social gathering has labored arduous now to rebuild it and reconnect with the general public.

On a query associated to the dominance of caste and faith in Uttar Pradesh since 1989, Gandhi advised PTI, “It is correct that UP’s politics has become about caste and religion, but the fact is that this kind of politics has contributed nothing to the progress of the state. It has not only pushed the state back but has enabled the political class to become complacent.”

“The average politician of UP believes that he will get votes on the basis of religion and caste anyway so what need does he have to perform on other counts? He can sideline the real issues of the public with ease. This is a very unhealthy development in a democracy,” she mentioned.

“It effectively means that development, governance and economics take a back seat as emotions linked to caste and religion drive politics,” Gandhi mentioned in written solutions to questions despatched to her.

“We are the only party that has offered a well thought out plan for women, youth and indeed for every aspect of UP’s social and political uplift and presented it in our manifestos. We believe that politicians must be held accountable for governance and development and are spreading this message across the state,” she mentioned.

Asked how robust the Congress cadre in Uttar Pradesh is because the social gathering has not been in energy for the final 33 years, Gandhi mentioned, “Our organisation in UP had been progressively weakened over the last few decades. For a number of elections due to alliances, we did not even put up candidates in as many as two to three hundred seats.”

“What I faced when I first came here was almost a complete erosion of our cadre although some old congressmen and women were still standing strong despite this,” she added.

However, fielding candidates on 400 seats for the continuing Uttar Pradesh elections will throw up new management and strengthen the Congress,” she asserted.

“We have worked very hard to rebuild our party. We changed the nature of the programmes so that they re-connected our cadres with the public and no longer remained party-centric alone. We trained over 1,00,000 workers and have built the organisation up to the Nyay panchayat and gram level across the state,” she mentioned.

Elaborating on the steps taken by her to rebuild the social gathering, Gandhi mentioned, “We made sure that whenever the public faced problems in the last few years, our party workers were the first to respond and fight for their rights, yet we have a long way to go in terms of organisational strength on the ground.” “Development is at the top of our political agenda. We are appealing to women and young people to replace the politics of caste and religion with a politics that responds to the needs of the public,” she mentioned.

On Congress’ allegations that the BJP is diverting from core growth points and focusing solely on terrorism and mafias, she mentioned, “I see it as a great shame that people are facing such immense problems, they are unable to make ends meet, they are struggling on a daily basis and yet, this is what BJP leaders are spending their time doing.”

“What is polarisation after all? It is a blatant political tool that allows political parties to underperform on every front,” she mentioned.

The Congress chief additionally vowed to proceed to struggle for the rights of the folks of Uttar Pradesh no matter the election outcomes.

“I will be right here working for the people of UP and fighting for them regardless of what the results in this election will be. I know my responsibility towards them and I feel it deeply in my heart,” she mentioned.

“UP has so much potential, so much skill and capability and its people are being cheated of their dues over and over again. They truly deserve a politics that puts their needs and aspirations first. I will work very hard to make this possible,” the Congress chief added.