While Congress general secretary Digvijay Singhs visit to Azamgarh may have generated controversy,Rahul Gandhi is headed there next. He will be visiting the town and interacting with students of the historical Shibli National College. A date for the visit is yet to be finalised. I have requested Rahul Gandhi to visit the college associated with the freedom movement, Digvijay the party-in-charge for Uttar Pradesh told reporters here after submitting a report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on his Azamgarh visit. With an eye on the 2012 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh,all parties,including the Congress,are vying for the Muslim vote. Muslims in the state have also shown signs of returning to the Congress fold after a long gap reflected in the partys encouraging performance in the last Lok Sabha polls. Rahuls visit to Shibli National College is full of symbolism,coming in the wake of Digvijays Monday statement that the youths of Azamgarh were not products of madrasas. Not only was the 124-year-old institution associated with the freedom movement,it is widely known as a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. Names of Mahatma Gandhi,Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru are associated with the college. Digvijays visit to Azamgarh,where he raised some questions about the Batla encounter,had been criticised by the BJP as another sign of the partys politics of appeasement. The Congress initially appeared to be distancing itself from the visit but Digvijay himself disclosed later that he had consulted both Sonia and Rahul on his visit. The fact that Rahul is now going to Azamgarh means that the Congress is willing to take its chances on the matter. Interestingly,a delegation of party leaders from Uttar Pradesh who met Sonia on Tuesday requested her too to visit Azamgarh. About his Azamgarh report,Digvijay said that Sonia had assured him that she would request the Centre to take an early decision over the demand to set up special courts to hear all terror-related cases.
