Congress has betrayed people's aspirations, says Rajnath

Motioning to Tandon seated next to him, Rajnath said all news of Tandon being angry or upset over the Lucknow seat were misplaced.

Promising a host of measures, including promoting Lucknow as a biotech city, cleaning of river Gomti, improvement of infrastructure in the state capital, Rajnath said he was happy to be a candidate from the "karmabhoomi" of Vajpayee.

He also lashed out at the Samajwadi Party (SP)-led government and referred to the Supreme Court rap earlier in the day to the UP government, holding it prima facie guilty in the Muzaffarnagar riots.

"For the last 12 years, Modiji is being hounded for no guilt of his and here in UP, there is a government which has been slammed by the highest court of the land. This government should submit its resignation to the governor without wasting any more time," the BJP president said.

He also attacked the Congress for the economic mess in the country, poor governance, corruption and price rise.