Continuing her attack on the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday called upon party workers to be ready for a 'long drawn battle' if the state government did not mend its ways towards addressing peoples' problems.

"The caste and communal politics pursued by the successive non-Congress regimes are responsible for the current state of sorry affairs of the state," Gandhi said addressing a large gathering of party workers at Lalganj in Rae Bareli on the concluding day of her two-day thanksgiving visit to her Lok Sabha constituency.

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Gandhi, who was accompanied by her son and Congress MP from neighbouring Amethi constituency Rahul Gandhi, exhorted party workers to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level.

She regretted that the areas (Amethi and Rae Bareli) were 'ignored' by both the Centre and the state governments during the last few years.

Forming a coalition government at the Centre was a 'new experience' for the Congress but she exuded confidence that it would be able to live up to the expectations of the people who voted it to power.

Gandhi said she is 'not in active politics for some special post' but to ensure that the country regained its past glory and to re-establish value-based politics.