Congress revial in UP has begun
16 May 2009
In the heartland state of UP, Congress leaders were jubilant after making significant gains in a state where they had earlier lost much ground to the BJP and regional formations. Many of them gave credit to their general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
"Uttar Pradesh is a political force," said Gandhi, who represents Amethi in the state, at a press conference as the Congress looked likely to improve its tally to 20 or more from the nine Lok Sabha seats it won in 2004.
"It's the victory of the Congress policies implemented under the leadership of the party president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi," said the president of the state's party unit, Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
The Congress also swept Rajasthan, where it had won just four seats in the last election. The BJP, which rules the state, is likely to emerge a very distant second. The UPA also looked set to sweep Punjab, where it has not done well in recent times.
In West Bengal, the Left parties, which have ruled the state for the past 32 years, were wondering what hit them as the Trinamool Congress-UPA combination surged well ahead of them.
