Click to play videoMuradabad: It's a road less travelled. Rahul Gandhi stepped out for the test in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, by leading the Congress' campaign to regain the state.
Rahul's decision to kick off the party's poll campaign in Western UP has, however, left many surprised. For, the Muslim-dominated area of Muradnagar-Modinagar-Meerut is the stronghold of Jat strongman and RLD leader Ajit Singh. Yet, this is the belt Rahul chose to cover on day one of his three-day roadshow.
Over the next two days, Rahul Gandhi now plans to storm the rest of the belt, covering as many as 32 constituencies even though none of them has a strong Congress presence.
The Congress MP from Amethi is the key strategist of the party for the UP elections. But the party has perhaps realised that it will be sufficient if he manages to take the party to a level where it becomes politically more relevant.
On the first day of his campaign, Rahul chose to stay away from all caste-related issues, focusing mainly on youth and bad governance.
"I want to ask you all one simple question: What have the successive government done for you in the past 15 years?" he asks in one of his rallies.
But the reception from the crowd that gathered to check him out at Muradnagar was at best lukewarm. Rahul's charisma, known to work well in Amethi and Rae Barelli, seemed to be missing in this area.
"I am here to work shoulder to shoulder with you to change this state and usher in all-round development, and to forget the 15 years of misrule," he thundered.
The Congress' trump card has chosen his mother's style of campaigning — small public meetings where he interacts with voters. And on Sunday, Rahul even had an unplanned meeting during a break at a fast-food joint. But this may not be enough for the Congress to re-establish its touch with the state.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.