Rahul makes unannounced trip to Youth Congress camp in Lucknow

LUCKNOW - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Thursday once again took the Uttar Pradesh Police by surprise when he landed here unannounced, visited a Youth Congress camp and flew back to Delhi a few hours later.

Repeating her objections against such secretive visits by the Congress leader, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati once again sought to draw the central government’s attention to repeated violation of protocol by Gandhi.

Even state Congress leaders as well as organisers of the 4-day Youth Congress camp were clueless about the visit until a local TV channel flashed a brief clipping showing Gandhi’s arrival at the Lucknow airport.

State Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari were addressing a press conference at the Congress state headquarters when they learned about Gandhi’s sudden arrival. They were, however, able to catch up with him only at the airport when he returned to take the chartered aircraft back to Delhi.

Gandhi, who is known for springing surprises by landing in different parts of Uttar Pradesh over the past one year or so, spent about two hours at the camp.

When Gandhi’s three-car motorcade reached the gates of the Anandi Water Park on the city outskirts, he chose to step out of his vehicle and walk inside to the camp.

“There could not have been a more pleasant surprise for us than having Rahul Gandhi come all the way to see how our camp was going,” remarked a young participant after Gandhi’s departure.

While the Congress leader evaded the large press contingent hovering all around the venue, he addressed the participants, exhorted them to gear themselves up for the 2012 state assembly elections in UP.

“I can assure you that I will be devoting more time to Uttar Pradesh in the months to come, but what is more important that every Congress worker and the youth activists in particular get into gear to bring the party back at the helm of affairs in this state where it was badly needed,” he was stated to have told the participants.