Girls and young women turned up in large numbers to participate in a marathon organized by the Congress party. The marathon was organized today on Tuesday at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow. It was earlier going to be conducted in Lucknow and Jhansi on Sunday but permission was not granted for it.

While the BJP and Samajwadi Party consolidate their own voter base in what is being largely seen as a two-way contest between Akhilesh Yadav on one hand and the combine of Modi and Yogi's 'double engine' government on the other, the Congress is fighting the polls to assert itself after two dismal Assembly election performances in the stateby projecting Priyanka Gandhi as the Chief Minister face and banking on consolidating the votes of women. Uttar Pradesh has seen some gruesome crimes against women during the Yogi Adityanath government, including the gangrape in Unnao and the rape-and-murder case in Hathras both of which were perpetrated by dominant caste men against young Dalit women.

There was a strong turnout of girls for the marathon and they expressed a positive sentiment towards the marathon and the pro-women campaign being run by Priyanka Gandhi.