Harshwardhan Singh, 22, of Handia and Shailaja Rani, 30, of Phulpur were keen on making the same point: the country needed jobs more than temples.

They were among the huge crowd — 1.5 lakh strong, according to a police officer on duty — that greeted Rahul Gandhi outside Anand Bhavan, the house in Allahabad where his ancestors Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru once lived.

Rahul, who resumed his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Allahabad City on Sunday, seemed to receive a more enthusiastic welcome here than at any other place the Yatra has visited in Uttar Pradesh so far.

“I haven’t seen such a large crowd at any Congress programme in recent years,” a police inspector told The Telegraph outside Anand Bhavan.

Speaking off the record, he permitted himself a political opinion: “It shows the people want the Congress back, but it’s up to the Congress to respond or return to its slumber after this Yatra.”

It took Rahul’s convoy of 60 vehicles about 40 minutes to cross the first 30 metres of road outside Anand Bhavan, with the crowd surrounding his open jeep. Everybody wanted to shake hands with him.

A woman resisted the security personnel’s efforts to shove her away and somehow climbed onto the bonnet of the jeep and shook hands with Rahul multiple times before agreeing to let the motorcade move.

While the crowd included a fair number of Congress workers from across Allahabad district, it was mostly made up of ordinary voters.

“I am from the Handia area of the district. I have come with 15 jobless youths from my village to support Rahul’s Yatra because he is taking up the issues of the youth,” Harshwardhan, a graduate in search of a job, said.

“We heard Rahul speak on television in support of unemployed youths and against inflation. These issues affect us a lot.”

He added: “I don’t know what’s happened to the people of this country that they are supporting the Narendra Modi government over the consecration of the Ram temple. We don’t deny the importance of Lord Ram in India’s life but a human can’t bring Ram — He comes by himself. Nobody can claim credit for bringing Ram.”

Shailaja said: “There are hundreds of people in their 30s who haven’t yet got jobs after graduating many years ago. We can’t worship God on an empty stomach. We hope Rahul will be true to his words and generate enough government jobs for the youth whenever his party comes to power.”

After an overnight halt at Harisenganj village in Allahabad district, the Yatra will on Monday reach Amethi, Rahul’s former parliamentary constituency. He will spend a day there before travelling to Rae Bareli, another family pocket borough, which Sonia Gandhi currently represents.

Sonia, though, will be moving to the Rajya Sabha. Many in the Congress believe that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from Rae Bareli during this summer’s general election.