Cong Contesting All UP Seats After 30 Years: Priyanka

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said that for the first time in 30 years, the party is contesting on all the 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

“We are fighting with all our might. It’s the first time in 30 years that our party is contesting on all 403 seats,” Priyanka told ANI while holding a door-to-door campaign in Sahibabad and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh ahead of Assembly elections.

However, Congress star campaigner of Uttar Pradesh Sachin Pilot had earlier told ANI that as a “political courtesy” the party did not field any candidate against Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav justifying that the SP did not field any candidate against Sonia Gandhi, when she was contesting from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in the state earlier.

Sonia Gandhi was elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli’s seat in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Karhal assembly seat of UP, while his uncle who heads Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) Shivpal Singh Yadav is contesting from Jaswant Nagar seat.

Notably, Samajwadi Party had also not fielded its candidate from the Amethi assembly seat against Rahul Gandhi during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

In Uttar Pradesh, the first phase polling will be held on February 10, the second phase on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3, and the seventh phase on March 7.

The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)