Sonia’s booster dose

Sonia's rally boosted the morale of the UP party unit, on the wane for long in the state 

Pradeep Kapoor Lucknow

Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, injected much-needed enthusiasm in the party when she visited Lucknow recently for election campaign. Sonia won the hearts of people in Lucknow when she talked about Lucknawi tehzeeb and the glorious past of the city which fought the British Raj. She even delved into Urdu poetry to revitalise the emotional connect of the Nehru-Gandhi family with Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh: Hum fida-ai-Lucknow/ Lucknow hum par fida.

And, this seemed to have the desired effect. Her observation that whoever came to Lucknow, decided to make it hometown, charmed the denizens. The state party unit feels this has improved chances of Congress candidate, Rita Bahuguna Joshi. Sonia's rally boosted the morale of the UP party unit, on the wane for long in the state. Party leaders hope this will go a long way to pave the way for Congress revival.

Speaking at the election rally on April 19, Sonia exhorted the people to vote for a stable government at the centre. She was equally critical of BJP, SP and BSP.

Sonia struck a chord with Lucknow when she shared her concern with the people about the rampant 'statue culture' promoted by the Mayawati government. The Congress president said that icons like Bhimrao Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Jyotiba Phule worked for dalits and to uplift the society and not for erecting their own statues. Obviously, Sonia Gandhi was referring to Mayawati erecting her own statues in the city.

Sonia then went on to launch an offensive against corruption of the Mayawati government. She said that loot had become order of the day and criminals who should have been behind bars were nominated as BSP candidates.

Sonia did not spare BJP's PM-in-waiting LK Advani either. She slammed him for releasing terrorists during the Kandahar hijack episode during the rule of the NDA government and for taking instructions from a particular organisation (read RSS).

Sonia's rally was held in the old city at 3 pm when the mercury touched a scorching at 41 degree centigrade. Yet, that did not sap the enthusiasm of the people of Lucknow who turned out in large numbers to applaud and cheer cheer the leader.

The presence of Muslims in substantial numbers at the meeting was encouraging for the Congress as the community had been part of the traditional vote bank of the party along with Brahmins and dalits.