Development to be sole agenda of Congress in UP elections: Sheila Dikshit

New Delhi, July 18 (ANI): For the next year's assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh the Congress party's chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit has said, her party's sole agenda will be to bring development to the state. In an exclusive conversation with ETV News head Jagdeesh Chandra, Dikshit said "People of Uttar Pradesh are not going to give Akhilesh Yadav another chance. The development in UP has come to halt in the last 15 years." Acknowledging the presence of Priyanka Gandhi election will be significant, she said "Congress will benefit if Priyanka campaigns for the party in UP." Dikshit also defended Rahul Gandhi saying that he should be given more time. She also acknowledged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to be rival and a tough competitor in the 2017 assembly elections. She, however, said chances of the BJP winning the upcoming elections are dwindling since Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to fulfill his electoral promises. "Modi's popularity has decreased in last two years and he has failed to fulfill his election promises," she said. Uttar Pradesh will see a four -way battle for the leadership among the ruling Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress has been out of power in the state for almost 27 years. The Ruling Samajwadi Party is leaving no stones unturned and has been riding on its Muslim and Yadav voter base. Bahujan Samaj Party, on the other hand, who lost its leadership to SP, is eyeing for a comeback in the state with its strong Dalit vote base. Meanwhile Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to replicate its 2014 general elections victory which fetched 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats. (ANI)