Rahul takes on Mulayam, Mayawati; says he will change UP

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh were a cause for him to change the life of the people in the state.

Addressing a press conference in Varanasi on the last day of the phase 1 poll campaign, Rahul said that the Congress party would be back in the reckoning for power in Uttar Pradesh after the Assembly elections.

"I am convinced of a victory. People of Uttar Pradesh are looking towards Congress," said Rahul, adding that it was not about the election results for him but about the development of Uttar Pradesh.

Hitting out at his opponents in the state, Rahul said that neither Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh nor Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati had an intention to change Uttar Pradesh.

"What I have seen in the last few years in this state is criminal. I am going to fight it," he said.

Rahul further said, "Wherever I am going, the people are telling me that for 22 years, we have been fooled."

The Congress leader further said that his obsession was to improve Uttar Pradesh, adding that he would not leave the state even after 2012.

He also hit out at senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani, saying that the veteran politicians commits mistakes by not listening to people when he goes on his rath yatra.

Reacting to the statements from the Congress leader, the BJP poked fun at him saying "it is very good that Rahul has come to a level that he has started addressing press conference".

Speaking with CNN-IBN national bureau chief Bhupendra Chaubey, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that Rahul seemed incoherent on the political functioning and relied merely on paper work.

However, the Congress was quick in defending its leader, claiming that Rahul's campaign showed his passion for the people of Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said that Rahul genuinely wanted a change in UP and was honest in expressing his opinion.

I think Rahul can get a change in UP. He has honestly expressed his opinion on the state and genuinely wants a change for UP," said Shukla.

Hitting out at the BJP, Shukla said that the type of language some of its leaders were using in the election campaign was pathetic and sad.