To mark the 125th anniversary of the Congress,the Uttar Pradesh unit of the party on Saturday held a convention titled Congress Lao,Pradesh Bachao, in the state capital. The UPCC president,Rita Bahuguna Joshi,said the party was ready for early polls in the state. She claimed there was a positive wave in the state in favour of the Congress and urged the party workers to reach out to people and tell them about the partys policies and ideologies. Addressing the party workers,Joshi also dared the UP Chief Minister,Mayawati,to dissolve the Assembly and advance the polls. The UP chief minister has been praising the governance initiatives taken by her,but in reality there is no development. The people of the state will now vote for development and I challenge that if the polls are advanced,the Congress will come to power in UP, said Joshi as her words were received with a big applause by the party workers. Joshi also spoke about the Chilla bridge incident of Banda district and repeated the partys demand for resignation by state PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui. This was a shocking incident. A bridge,made at a cost of Rs 600 crore,is damaged within a fortnight of its construction and there is no action on it so far. We must ask Naseemuddin about it. Barely a week ago the chief minister had said that she will be making surprise inspections to check corruption. We want to know if she has done any inspection in the case so far, said Joshi. She further said,The PWD minister should resign for this incident. Targeting the youth in her speech,Joshi said only Congress gives opportunities to the youth. Rahul Gandhi had promised that he will talk to the union HRD minister for lifting the ban on students union elections. And I can tell you that in January,the three Central universities of the state will see elections. We should now pressurise the state government to lift the ban in state universities also. If we have allowed an 18-year-old to vote for the country,he can work towards development of his college, Joshi remarked. The Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Dhaurara MP Jitin Prasada was also present at the convention. He urged the party workers to come out on the streets and spread the message of the party among the masses.
