Rahul Gandhi reviews party strategy for UP amid uproar over FDI

Rahul Gandhi today held consultations with Congress leaders from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on the strategy ahead in the wake of detractors of the party making FDI in retail a major issue.

The meeting of senior leaders of Uttar Pradesh came in the midst of a stalemate in Parliament over the FDI issue, which has seen the Left and the Right making a common cause and some allies of the Congress like Trinamool Congress and DMK demanding a rollback.

Party leader Raj Babbar said after the meeting that FDI was not an issue in Uttar Pradesh but the opposition was trying to whip it up.

He said the meeting saw several Union Ministers from the state, promising to spend more time in the state in view of the elections.

The Jan Sampark Abhiyan launched by Rahul also came in for review. Uttar Pradesh has 403 assembly seats and the Congress is out of power in the state since 1989.

The Congress put up a good show in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in which it secured 22 of the 80 seats in the state.

The ruling BSP has been targeting the Congress on several issues, including the FDI, and its supremo and Chief Minister Mayawati has been especially harsh on Gandhi.