UP Politics: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is seen increasing his activism in Uttar Pradesh. On Thursday, he surprised everyone by suddenly reaching Hathras. The local administration was also unaware about this visit of Rahul Gandhi till Wednesday. In Hathras he met the family members of the rape victim. Political meanings are being drawn from this visit of Rahul Gandhi. Earlier he had also tried to calm down. However, due to the restrictions of the police administration, they could not reach the spot.
He later met the victims of Sambhal violence at his residence in Delhi. The interesting thing is that Congress has an alliance with SP in Uttar Pradesh, but Rahul Gandhi is trying to strengthen the Congress by batting alone on the political pitch of Uttar Pradesh. These efforts being made by Rahul Gandhi are being seen as a setback for SP.
Political meaning of Rahul’s Hathras visit
The next assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held in 2027. Political experts believe that in view of this, Rahul Gandhi has started efforts to strengthen the party. Rahul Gandhi suddenly left for Hathras from Delhi on Thursday morning and for his visit, the police administration had to make hasty security arrangements in the village of the rape victim. In Hathras, Rahul Gandhi talked to the family of the rape victim for about 45 minutes. After this conversation, Rahul did not discuss anything with the media.
Actually, a letter was written to Rahul Gandhi on behalf of the victim’s family in the month of July. In this letter, a complaint was made about non-fulfillment of the promises made by the government. The victim’s family says that they neither got a house nor a job from the government. Complaints were also made about living in jail-like conditions for the last four years. After the Hathras visit, it is believed that Rahul Gandhi will take some big steps towards helping the victim’s family.
Activism shown on Sambhal issue also
Earlier, Rahul had also tried to be careful with his sister Priyanka. However, they could not reach Sambal due to being stopped by the police. Later, he met the victims of Sambhal violence at his Delhi residence and assured them of help. Rahul Gandhi’s activism on major issues related to Uttar Pradesh is being interpreted to have political meaning.
Experts say that Rahul Gandhi seems to be more active on these issues whose pitch has been prepared by the Samajwadi Party. Samajwadi Party has also been active on issues like Hathras and Sambhal, but when SP became silent, Rahul Gandhi alone has tried to corner the state government by showing activism on these issues. Through this, he has tried to strengthen Congress and has also tried to give a message to SP that the party should not be considered weak.
SP gave a shock in the by-elections
Recently, by-elections were held on nine assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh. During the by-elections, SP did not fulfill the demands made by Congress regarding seats. SP alone had contested all the nine seats in the state but the party suffered a huge setback during the elections.
The BJP alliance had won seven seats while SP had won only Karhal and Sisamau assembly seats. Congress felt cheated after SP’s denial.
Effort to strengthen Congress in UP
It is believed that for this reason Rahul has tried to strengthen the Congress. However, Congress spokesperson Surendra Singh Rajput says that under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the party has always been fighting on issues related to the public. In such a situation, his visit should not be seen through a political lens.
On the other hand, political experts believe that Congress has started trying to strengthen itself so that even if the party contests elections in alliance, it can make a strong claim on the seats.
