PM Manmohan Singh to campaign in Punjab, Sonia in Uttarakhand

With the poll date approaching, the Congress is reaching out to the electorate in poll-bound states in a big way.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address poll rallies in Amritsar and Ludhiana on today. Punjab goes to polls on January 30. The Congress under former chief minister Amridner Singh is looking to wrest power from the Parkash Singh Badal headed SAD-BJP combine.

Interestingly, the Prime Minister had begun his New Year from Amritsar, when he along with his wife Gursharan Kaur paid obeisance at the Golden Temple on January one.

Meanwhile, party president Sonia Gandhi is concentrating on Uttarakhand where the Congress hopes to unseat the BJP government led by BC Khanduri. She will address a rally in Almoda today; last week she had campaigned in Roorkee.

On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi is continuing with his ‘Mission UP’. He would be campaigning in the Bundelkhnad region today.

Team Anna back start its campaign in five poll-bound states from today

Vowing not to seek votes for or against any single party, Team Anna is due to kick-start its campaign in five poll-bound states from Uttarakhand on today.

Members of Team Anna, including Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Kumar Vishwas, will campaign for a strong Lokpal Bill, against corruption and other issues such as caste and religion in the five states. Their first stop is Haridwar in Uttarakhand today.

They will also visit Dehradun, Rudrapur, Almora and Haldwani in the state.

Notably, Anna Hazare will not be taking part in the campaign in all five states.

On Friday, Team Anna released a campaign pamphlet for the upcoming polls in which it attacked the Congress accusing it of betraying the country on Lokpal issue.

The four-page pamphlet, titled 'Your Vote can Change the History of India -- Betrayal by Central Government on the Country', also targeted Rahul Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati to question them on Lokpal and land acquisition.

The BJP was also posed questions. However, Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan told a press conference that their campaign is not against or in favour of a party but on "important" issues like corruption, Lokpal and land acquisition.

When pointed out that the title of the pamphlet betrays the claims of not targeting a party, Kejriwal shot back, "Hasn't the government cheated the whole country?" Bhushan said they will raise the issues on Lokpal and what all parties did to the Lokpal Bill.

The pamphlet has listed "six betrayals" on the issue of Lokpal by Central government while another page titled "Congress' strong Lokpal Bill" cites the "deficiencies" in the anti-corruption law. Six questions were raised to all political parties which include whether they agree that the Lokpal Bill is weak, CBI should be independent of government control and whether they will oppose the bill in Parliament.

The parties were also asked about their stand on land acquisition bill. Making the campaign personal, Team Anna also sought answers from Rahul Gandhi on whether Congress will dare to bring a strong Lokpal Bill on the lines of Lokayukta Act in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand.

Team Anna members would also visit Srinagar on January 24 and a few other parts of the state on January 27 and 28.