Congress on shaky ground in UP? Rahul thinks it is!

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is likely to take a mid-campaign review of the party's poll strategy on Thursday in the Congress war room in New Delhi. He has called a meeting of the various Congress committees set up for Uttar Pradesh, including the manifesto committee, the publicity and media committee and the campaign committee.

Sources say that Rahul is looking and feeling a little unsure and shaky, as he has not been getting the correct feedback from the ground on where exactly the party is placed and whether the party is getting the kind of seats that he is expecting.

Sources say that during Thursday's review meeting, Rahul would not only seek feedback but also decide on whatever course correction is required.

This review comes in the midst of hectic election campaign undertaken by him in the state from where he is returning after a 5-day election tour.

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The review is also set in the midst of reports that the Congress is all set to substantially increase its tally in UP where it is currently a winner in only 22 out of the 403 seats.

Rahul has been consistently campaigning for five days at a stretch rather than doing day-long campaigns as had been the practice earlier.

When the party's committees meet to discuss and fine tune its poll strategy, Rahul is expected to give inputs to the manifesto committee on what issues to include in its agenda.
 

While the party's main focus is on Muslims, sources said that Rahul himself had been doing some course correction in central and eastern parts of the state where he has been invoking Indira Gandhi's name in his meetings. He has been stating that he would remain in the state till the party is able to stand on its own feet.

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Senior leaders are upset that All India Congress Committee functionaries are giving out too much information to the media. So much so that some of it like the Kurmi-Muslim tie-up has damaged the party, particularly when it comes to the upper castes like the Brahmins.

Rahul has been focusing on development and lack of governance by non-Congress governments of the past, sources say, adding that this is why the party will soon issue a Vision 2020 document on UP to deal with development, infrastructure and industrialisation in the state.

In this scenario, the fact that Delhi-based leaders have been briefing the media only on the Kurmi-Muslims vote banks has not gone down too well with Rahul.

The Congress general secretary is also expected to hold a few joint rallies with Ajit Singh in western UP where the party is expecting to do well in the coming elections.

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