Rahul Gandhi's UP Plan: 2,500 Km, 223 Constituencies, No Big Rallies

New Delhi: Next week, Rahul Gandhi will launch a nearly month-long tour of Uttar Pradesh in a huge public outreach that will not include any large rallies, said Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today.

The Congress vice president will criss-cross 2,500 kilometres, covering about 223 of Uttar Pradesh's 403 assembly constituencies. Mr Gandhi, 46, will launch his tour on September 6 from Deoria in the eastern part of the state.

Uttar Pradesh will choose its next government in six months.

Mr Gandhi will meet with farmers, women and youth in intimate neighbourhood chats, said the Congress, and focus heavily on accusing successive governments of failing them and being unable to alleviate the backwardness and poverty of India's most populous state.

The Congress last governed Uttar Pradesh nearly three decades ago. It has declared Sheila Dikshit, 78, as its presumptive chief minister. Mr Gandhi's mother, Sonia Gandhi, who is President of the party, was forced last month to cut short her roadshow through Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after she fell sick while campaigning.

It is not clear yet how Mr Gandhi will conduct his tour or yatra. Raj Babbar, actor-turned-politician and head of the Congress in UP, is traveling through the state on a bus to rack up support.

In the national election two years ago, the Gandhis were the only Congress MPs to be re-elected from Uttar Pradesh.

The Samajwadi Party is hoping Akhilesh Yadav will be re-elected Chief Minister. Mayawati, who is a Dalit leader and heads the BSP, is asking for another shot as head of the state; she has been its Chief Minister four times. The BJP has not yet declared its nominee for Chief Minister.