From rxpgnews.com
BJP bigwigs scurry to Lucknow after Rahul's visit
By IANS,
Apr 24, 2007 - 10:07:16 PM
Lucknow, April 24 - Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's roadshow in Lucknow Monday seemed to have stirred the entire Bharatiya Janata Party - into action, with a galaxy of its campaigners making a beeline for the state capital Tuesday.
No sooner than the Congress star campaigner flew out of Lucknow after his visibly hurried tour, BJP campaigners including cinestar-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, TV actress Smriti Irani, senior leader Sushma Swaraj and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi reached the city Tuesday to campaign for the on-going state assembly polls.
With each of them training their guns at Rahul more than the Congress, it became increasingly apparent that their main focus was on neutralising the Rahul impact on the electorate.,
Vajpayee was responsible for swinging four of the five city assembly segments in the BJP's kitty in the last elections, and the party could not afford to lose the advantage.
Even though the Congress had not figured in the main contest for any of these seats at the state assembly polls in 2002, Rahul's brief appearance seemed to have ruffled the BJP feathers here. This was despite the fact that the BJP leaders dismissed Rahul as a 'political novice' and his visit a 'flop show'.
'We are not worried about Rahul. It is the Congress that's living in a fool's paradise hoping that the Gandhi kid would revive the party the funeral of which was performed 18 years ago,' remarked senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon.
He claimed: 'The arrival of so many BJP campaigners simultaneously had nothing to do with Rahul's visit. We have a galaxy of stars to campaign for us, so all of them will naturally come.'
Tuesday's show will be followed by a mega show on Wednesday, when Vajpayee would himself reach Lucknow to campaign in Uttar Pradesh - the first time since the seven-phased state elections commenced on April 7. Party chief Raj Nath Singh too was expected to join him in Lucknow together with a host of other top rung BJP leaders.
All rights reserved by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited ( www.rxpgnews.com )