Kanpur, Sunday 07 February 2010: Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee may have had young Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in her mind when she said a person from Uttar Pradesh will be the future of the nation.

Without naming the Gandhi scion or anyone else, she said at a function here: “In the coming years, a person, who is from Uttar Pradesh, will be the future of the nation.”

The function, where 12 new trains were flagged off, was attended among others by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

UP is a politically-important state as several former Prime Ministers like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi hailed from the state, the Railway Minister said.

“Even UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is from Uttar Pradesh,” she said.