New Delhi: The Congress is keen to strengthen the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh and will deploy AICC observers in all the 80 parliamentary constituencies in the state and set up seat-wise coordination committees to take on the BJP.
“We are taking various steps to improve coordination between the partners and strengthen the alliance. The alliance will deliver justice to people in the state and across the country against the BJP rule,” AICC general secretary in charge of UP Avinash Pande told ETV Bharat. To convey a sense of seriousness about the coordination issue, Pande along with state unit chief Ajai Rai, CLP leader Aradhana Mishra and veteran PL Punia discussed the broad cooperation plan with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
“The talks were cordial. We discussed ways to move forward together. Besides the two parties working together, the voters in the state have also made up their mind to bring about a change this time. There is a strong undercurrent in favour of the alliance. Now it is our responsibility to turn that public anger into votes. Hence, coordination at the booth level would be important,” said Pande.
According to party insiders, the 80 AICC coordinators will not only work in the 17 seats being contested by the Congress but will also help the SP in the remaining 63 seats being contested by the ally. Further, a state level coordination committee and seat-wise coordination panels comprising members of both the parties will also be set up over the coming days.
In order to improve coordination between the alliance partners, the Congress will also hold training camps to educate its workers on how to bring about ground level coordination as the two parties are coming together after a gap of seven years. In 2017, the Congress and the SP had a pre-poll pact for the assembly polls, but it did not work on the ground as workers were hesitant to conduct joint campaigns.
“This time proper systems are being set up,” said Pande. The Congress is also toning up its control room in capital Lucknow which will play a critical role in ensuring smooth coordination between the alliance partners. “The SP is also making similar arrangements. The state level and seat-wise coordination panels will meet regularly to discuss daily strategies for joint campaigns and to sort out operational issues,” a senior UP Congress leader said.
According to a senior UP Congress leader, the concept of social justice for youth, women, farmers and minorities will be the central theme of the joint campaign of the alliance while area specific issues would also be raised by the INDIA bloc. “Unemployment is a major issue in the state among the young voters, and so are issues related to safety of women and minorities. We will highlight them aggressively,” said a state leader.
Realizing the importance of the UP alliance, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had recently set up a Pradesh Election Committee and a Political Affairs Committee to give key party roles to the senior state leaders ahead of the crucial elections.
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