Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 1 (IANS): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday continued to target Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, as he went on a full-throated campaign in several constituencies which will go to polls Feb 8 in the first phase of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
Sitapur, adjoining Lucknow, was on his itinerary Tuesday as well as Barabanki district.
Addressing four rallies at Reosa, Sitapur, Daryabad and Mehndipur, Gandhi attracted large crowds. Barring minor variations, the content of his speeches were more or less similar, also enabling him to dispense from his usual practice of reading out from a written text.
He sought to highlight how he had taken pains to reach out to the poorest of poor and the most underprivileged in the state's remotest areas, where the two main rivals, Mayawati or Mulayam Singh, had never cared to come.
"Have Mayawati or Mulayam ever visited the house of a poor Dalit or even held his hand? Have they ever shared a meal with a poor downtrodden? Have they ever had water drawn from the village well," Gandhi asked.
"And since they haven't done so, how can they understand the sufferings of the poor, their needs or their aspirations?"
"When I go over to the homes of Dalits or the poor in remote villages, Mayawati calls its drama, but that has not deterred me from reaching out to those who have remained neglected for at least two decades since the Congress has been out of power in this state."
The Congress general secretary noted that seeing at the plight of the poor and unemployed in the rural areas, the government came up with the rural jobs schemes to ensure 100 days employment to agriculture labour but "the opposition laughed at us".
"When we announced waiver of Rs.60,000 crore worth of agriculture loans, the opposition termed it a very tall order and even questioned us as to where would we get the funds to implement such an ambitious plan. But we managed to do it because we believe in honouring every commitment."
Hitting out at both Mayawati and Mulayam Singh, he said: "While Mayawati plundered the state treasury, Mulayam did nothing other than indulging in scam after scams".
"But when we decided to give Muslims the biggest gift - reservations - both these leaders were feeling stumped. While Mayawati shot off a letter, Mulayam has sought to term it as grossly insufficient. But I wish to ask him, why he did not give such a reservation while he was chief minister."
Citing the government's achievements, Gandhi said: "Congress always did what it promised - take the Right to Information, Right to Education and now the Right to Food, which we are shortly going to implement to ensure that no one remains hungry in this country."
He also made it a point to run down the Bharatiya Janata Party by reminding how the National Democratic Alliance government under Atal Behari Vajpayee sought to fool the country by giving the "India Shining" slogan in 2004 general elections.
Gandhi made a fervent appeal to the crowds to vote for the Congress.
"You gave 22 years to the elephant (BSP) and the bicycle (SP). Give us five years and see the change that we will bring to your lives by transforming this state," he added.