Rahul takes UP's drought war to PM

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took his turf war against Mayawati to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's court.

The Congress general secretary demanded a Rs 8,000-crore package for drought-hit Bundelkhand.

Accompanied by senior party leader Digvijay Singh, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Jain and several MPs and MLAs, Rahul met the PM at his Parliament office and urged him to implement the central report which had recommended a financial package for the backward region.

The team pressed for the setting up of a separate Bundelkhand Development Authority to expedite the development of the region that falls in UP as well as Madhya Pradesh.

The delegation also complained to the PM that the Mayawati government was deliberately not taking up drought-relief work in areas where the Congress was strong.

The meeting comes close on the heels of Mayawati's letter to the PM reiterating her long-pending demand for a Rs 80,000-crore package for Bundelkhand and eastern UP. The Gandhi scion's bid to score over Mayawati in drought politics has rattled the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Its parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha Vijay Bahadur Singh accused the Congress of trying to "destabilise the state government". Trashing the charge that the Mayawati government ignored the Congress-dominated areas, he said the CM had been asking for a Rs 80,000-crore package for the entire state for the past two years but the Centre had paid no attention.

Vijay Bahadur said there was no need for Rahul to go straight to the PM. "It is a political gimmick… Bundelkhand does not need five star hotels. They are spending Rs 3,000 crore for the Commonwealth Games. This money could have been provided for the parched people of Bundelkhand," he said.

"After 18 years of coalition governments, the BSP secured majority on its own and that is why the Congress is scared of Mayawati," Vijay Bahadur said.

Congress's Digvijay Singh didn't deny that Rahul's meeting with the PM was an attempt to take political mileage as the Centre was already in the process of giving a special package to Bundelkhand.

"Why not?" Digvijay shot back. It was at Rahul's initiative that the package for Bundelkhand was considered, he said.

He said Rahul had travelled to Bundelkhand last summer and saw the acute poverty and plight of the people. After the visit, he had met the PM which led the Centre to constitute a team to look into the issues of the area.

"As the matter concerns two states, we need a separate authority so that funds are channelised through it," Digvijay said.

"The PM has assured that the demands will be looked into." On Mayawati's demand, he said the Centre had increased the allocation for UP to Rs 2 lakh crore from Rs 56,000 crore, but the CM was busy spending money on erecting statues and parks.

Joshi accused Mayawati of "being selective" in providing drought relief. In the last one week, 47 districts in UP have been declared drought-hit. "Those represented by Congress MPs have been left out," she alleged.

The BSP is also jittery as Rahul is concentrating on the state with his eyes set on the 2012 assembly polls. On Monday, the Congress heir apparent discussed with the 20 party MPs from UP over dinner the roadmap for monitoring of development work.

He divided the MPs into four groups for micro management of their respective regions. Each group will be headed by a member nominated from among them.

The MPs will pursue welfare schemes for aam aadmi and other developmental projects with the Union minister concerned.

Rahul will also attend the UP Congress coordination committee meeting in Lucknow on August 4 to discuss the drought situation in the state.