Thaindian News

Lucknow, June 7 (IANS) Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s three hour meeting Tuesday with top Uttar Pradesh partymen at the state headquarters of the party here has sent the message that he will personally oversee all affairs related to the 2012 assembly elections.

Rahul confined himself to the party office while senior leader Digvijay Singh interacted with the media.

Singh clarified that Rahul’s “Mission 2012″ would not be confined to the assembly elections alone.

“Mission 2012 would go well beyond the assembly elections until we succeed in putting Uttar Pradesh back to its erstwhile number one position,” Singh told a press conference shortly after Rahul’s departure.

Saying that Rahul would be devoting more time to Uttar Pradesh affairs, he said: “Rahul Gandhi’s next visit is scheduled for the third week of June when he will hold discussion on each of the 403 assembly seats.”

As per the guidelines issued by Gandhi, the emphasis would be on drawing a consensus on most candidates, he added.

“Only such seats would be put up for discussion before him for which there are many contenders,” Singh said.

The visit will be followed by more such meetings to finalise the list of candidates, in which priority would be given to those from the backward castes, minorities and youth, he added.

Rahul Gandhi’s arrival at the party headquarters here drew huge crowds, with ticket aspirants hovering around in very large numbers.

Some of the aspirants had put up giant hoardings displaying their photographs and current status in the party.

–Indo-Asian News service
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