NEW DELHI: Congress campaign chief in Uttar Pradesh Sri Prakash Jaiswal said Rahul Gandhi will run the government in Uttar Pradesh by remote control, irrespective of who became the chief minister.Talking to reporters, Jaiswal said Congress was set to win 200 seats in UP and would form the government. "Whoever becomes the CM, the remote will be in Rahulji's hands," he said, adding, "Rahul will show his skills in the next five years and will be monitoring whether the promises are being fulfilled or not."The blatant use of “remote control” for Rahul raised eyebrows since the method has come to signify undermining of democracy. It first stirred politics in 1995 when Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray loudly claimed on his party’s ascension to power that he would not become the CM but would remote-control the man in the hot seat. Manohar Joshi , who ultimately assumed power, was never seen as his own man.Since then, backseat driving came to be associated with regional satraps who let cronies assume power for different reasons. O Panneerselvam was seen as a mere puppet after AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa resigned as CM after being convicted in corruption cases in September 2001. When RJD chief Lalu Prasad quit in similar circumstances in Bihar in 1997, he put in a homemaker in Rabri Devi in his place. Prasad’s wife ran the government for eight long years.With these episodes, ‘remote control’ embedded itself deeper in the political discourse but devalued the top post even more.Associating the term with the Congress heir apparent may sound politically incorrect but Congressmen felt it was a calculated way to assure UP voters that the party would stick to the development plank and not slip into identity issues like the SP, BSP and BJP regimes of the last 22 years that it is seeking a vote against.Of course, Jaiswal’s claim sounded outlandish to say the least because “200” seats for the Congress are next to impossible. But he justified it by citing the high turnout of 64% in the first phase of polling on Wednesday.“Rahul's vigorous campaigning has ensured that youths came out to vote. There is an increase in voter turnout and 15% of them are young. They have all come to vote for Rahul,” Jaiswal claimed, mocking if the youth would have voted for octogenarian BJP leader L K Advani.If unbelievable, the boastful remarks made during an hour-long interaction with journalists in the middle of UP polls appear aimed at scotching the talk about a post-poll tie-up with Samajwadi Party. The Congress brass led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul has been telling election meetings that there would be no coalition with any party in the state. “Our only alliance is with the people of UP,” Rahul recently told reporters.The Congress narrative in UP polls revolves around aggressive optimism and leaders have even begun to think of party leadership in the government. Jaiswal’s entry in the media debate is seen as a step in the same direction after Beni Prasad Verma and P L Punia crossed swords during the first phase of polling. Verma dismissed the dalit leader as an “outsider from Punjab” to project himself as the local face.