“They are using flimsy grounds to ensure the meeting is held outside the heart of the city, and using arm twisting tactics to demoralise party workers,” UP Congress President Rita Bahuguna Joshi said in Allahabad.

The Amethi MP will attend the next meeting of the UP co-ordination committee in Allahabad on August 28 and later address a public meeting.

The UP co-ordination committee was formed last year to prepare the party for the Lok Sabha elections due next year.

“Initially we had plans to hold the public meeting at P G Tandon grounds. But the administration denied permission on grounds that since it was a crowded area, a public meeting there was not advisable...they are using flimsy grounds to create problems,” she alleged.

The UPCC now plans to hold the meeting at K P ground in the outskirts of Allahabad. “For Rahul, venue is not an issue.

He can attract followers anywhere,” she added.

Joshi claimed that police booked a number of NSUI (students’ wing of the party) leaders under various sections of the IPC when they were protesting over delay in holding of university elections.