Congress to use Rahul sparingly

NEW DELHI: Congressmen may sing praises of Rahul Gandhi, his abilities and his potential, but the party is going to be very cautious in using him in the Uttar Pradesh election campaign.

Grooming him for leadership and the party’s ‘star campaigner’, Congress would not like his image to be dented in any way. Given the eroded support base in UP, Rahul whizzing around all over the state, and the party ending up with little to show would not do any good to him. The hype from Congressmen for giving him the prime role in elections was thus not likely to materialise yet.

A Congress leader said the party would use Rahul in a very limited manner in constituencies where the Congress has a good support base and which the party sees as winnable. His campaign plan would be drawn with this objective. There are some 60-odd seats, where Rahul can make an impact, the party feels.

For the most part, the Congress would depend on forging alliance with some other party or parties, but this was an aspect yet to be worked out. At present, the party was exploring tie-ups with smaller, caste-based outfits in the state which can perhaps augment the Congress support base.