allahabad as campaign for sixth phase of uttar pradesh assembly polls reached a crescendo congress president sonia gandhi on monday hit out at bjps pet poll plank of national security and asked the people to vote her party back to power to help the state keep pace with rest of the country in developmentreacting to bjps repeated charge that the upa government was being soft on issues of national security gandhi pointed out that terror attacks on parliament and akshardham temple in gujarat had taken place during nda rule when the bjpled government also handed over three dreaded militants to afghanistan to resolve the kandhar plane hijack crisisher remarks came at mammoth a rally hereher first in the cityas also at another rally earlier in varanasiaccusing successive noncongress governments in uttar pradesh of bringing development to a standstill in the state gandhi appealed to the people to vote for congress and help up keep pace with rest of the countryshe alleged that during the last 18 years when congress had remained out of power forces seeking to divide the society along the lines of caste and religion have gained ground in uttar pradesh which was responsible for the states allround decay unlike parties like bjp which seem to have no agenda except criticising political opponents and coming up with all sorts of excuses for their own failings the congress has led a coalition against all odds and achieved in a short period of three years what many other parties could not do in decades gandhi saidunder the able leadership of prime minister manmohan singh our government has framed policies which have not only accelerated economic development but also taken special care of weaker sections dalits farmers and women the party will do the same in up if given a chance she addedshe alleged not a single development project had been initiated ever since congress lost power in upgandhi recalled her family had been connected with allahabad for five generations and lamented that the place once noted for excellence in all walks of life was now in a state of decline which is evident in entire uttar pradeshthanking the people of the city for the warm welcome given to her son and the partys star campaigner rahul gandhi during his roadshow a day earlier sonia gandhi made a fervent appeal to strengthen the party which has to its credit all the progress that the state has seen so farrecalling the contributions to the city in particular and the state and the country in general of late motilal nehru and jawaharlal nehru gandhi claimed congress was keeping alive the tradition of serving the people which it has shown in the last three years of its rule at the centre