Mohsin Raza and Imran Pratapgarhi at India TV Chunav Manch 2022
UP Election 2022 | Chunav Manch: Uttar Pradesh minister and BJP leader Mohsin Raza on Saturday mocked Congress' election campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state and questioned whether there was any presence of the grand old party in the state. Speaking during a session at India TV's special election conclave 'Chunav Manch' in Lucknow, Raza said Congress was nowhere to be seen, however, he was countered by Congress leader Imran Pratapgarhi.
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Responding to a question on Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Imran Pratapgarhi said the Congress party is fighting on the ground. Drawing reference to the Hathras gangrape case, Congress' Imran Pratapgarhi said Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi were the ones who stood against the police while the Hathras rape victim was cremated without family's consent at midnight.
Citing several other examples, including the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, Imran Pratapgarhi said "the Congress party fought for the justice of farmers and went to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families of those killed in the violence."
Meanwhile, countering Pratapgarhi's claims, BJP's UP minister Mohsin Raza said the Congress party has almost vanished from the country.
"The people of the country and the leaders of their own political party do not relate with the ideologies, and are hence leaving Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party," Mohsin Raza said.
"Such leaders do not want to work for one family, rather wanted to work for the nation and hence chose the saffron party's path," Raza added.
The two leaders crossed paths over several political bigwigs hopping parties ahead of the crucial UP elections .
Defending the BJP, Raza said those who want to work for the nation are still with the saffron party, while the ones who worked for self profit have left the party.
On similar grounds, Congress' Imran Pratapgarhi said those who did not abide by Rahul Gandhi's ideologies have quit the party.
Elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held from February 10 till March 7, 2022, in seven phases, to elect all 403 members of the UP Legislative Assembly.
The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on March 10, 2022.
