Manmohan Singh pushes

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FIROZABAD - A massive crowd waited patiently for over two hours to catch a glimpse of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi who addressed a rally here Friday in support of party candidate and actor Raj Babbar for the Lok Sabha by-election.

Addressing a huge rally at the PD Degree College ground here, Rahul Gandhi said the Mayawati government had not utilised the funds provided by the central government properly. “Only a fraction of what was allocated was reaching the target,” he said.

The Nov 7 by-election was caused by Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav vacating the seat to retain his Kannauj parliamentary constituency. His wife Dimple Yadav is the Samajwadi Party candidate against Babbar.

Rahul Gandhi arrived at the venue more than two hours late, but the crowd kept waiting patiently for a glimpse of a member of the Gandhi family after 32 years. Former prime minister Indira Gandhi had visited the glass city way back in 1977 after lifting Emergency.

Focussing on the youth and the farmers while discussing the party agenda for 2012, Gandhi said the “real India was in the rural areas, in the villages of the country”. “If the country has to progress we will need to develop rural India.”

He expressed confidence that Raj Babbar would sit along with him in the Lok Sabha after the elections.

Rahul Gandhi spoke for only 15 minutes while listing the achievements of the Manmohan Singh government.

While the Congress leader was addressing the rally, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav was leading a cycle rally that covered 25 km.

The political scene in Firozabad has begun to heat up with the Congress and the Samajwadi Party locked in a prestigious fight. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party appear to have been pushed to third and fourth positions, if political pundits are to be believed.