Rahul in Amethi to 're-motivate' Congress workers

Amethi (Uttar Pradesh), April 30 (IANS) Hoping to 're-motivate' party workers in his parliamentary constituency, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi arrived here Monday on a three-day visit, his first after the party's defeat in the state assembly elections.

A senior Congress leader said that Rahul Gandhi wanted to 're-motivate party workers' at the grassroots level 'who are feeling lost ever since the Samajwadi Party romped home to power'.

He said the party has been jolted by the poll results, which saw the Samajwadi Party defeating the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress winning just 28 of the 403 assembly seats. Now, Rahul Gandhi was asking the party activists to forget 'what had happened and instead focus on things to come', the Congress leader told IANS.

Soon after his arrival in Amethi, Rahul drove through the town in a white SUV, the window panes down and air-conditioning off, smiling at the passers-by.

During his three-day stay here, he is likely to meet block and booth level workers of the party. He is scheduled to take part in as many as six interactive sessions, spread across various areas, including Tiloi, Munshiganj and Salon assembly constituencies.

The party general secretary, often referred to as 'Yuvraj', would be holding meetings with local workers to try and ascertain what caused the party's rout in the family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli.

Though both Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had campaigned extensively in the two parliamentary constituencies, the results were a big thumbs down for the Congress.

Of the 10 assembly segments in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the party could win only in two. The Congress did not win a single assembly seat in Rae Bareli - represented in the Lok Sabha by Congress president Sonia Gandhi - and managed to bag just two in Amethi. The SP swept the two VIP Lok Sabha constituencies by winning eight seats.