Congress makes tall promises ahead of UP polls

Allahabad/Rampur, Feb 1 (ANI): Political fever gripped Uttar Pradesh as the Congress party made boisterous claims of facilitating development of the state while other regional players continued to slam it for promoting Muslim reservation in current sensitive election times.

Talking to reporters here, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said that the Congress party if brought to power would ensure establishment of a women run police station in each district in the state.

"If our party comes into power with your support in Uttar Pradesh then I assure you that we would work towards establishing a women run police station in each district. We would work towards appointing a competent state level Ombudsman and bring the chief minister of the state under the purview of Lokayukta. Each year the chief minister and his state ministers will also submit a declaration their assets to ensure transparency in the state," Singh added.

Rashtriya Lok Manch vice-president and actress Jayaprada criticised Congress party for propagating the idea of nine percent reservation for Muslims for political benefits.

"Whenever elections approach, all political leaders misuse the Muslim vote to persuade voters and start talking about their reservation as part of their agenda. The Congress party is also doing the same by talking of giving nine percent reservation to Muslims. Why did they not think of it five years ago and why are they talking about at such a sensitive time?," said Jayaprada asked media in Rampur.

The Uttar Pradesh polls are being viewed as an opportunity for major parties to re-establish their foothold in the country's fifth largest and most populous state.

Polls in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted between February 8 and March 3, and the counting will take place on March 6.

Uttar Pradesh will elect a new 403-member state assembly in March, and the poll results will broadly indicate trends for the 2014 general elections. (ANI)