Lucknow: Just days after the BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav announced their historic gathbandhan, the political checkerboard that is Uttar Pradesh has once again become interesting with Congress digging in its heels.
Those who predicted that the poll battle would be a direct contest between SP-BSP and the BJP seem to have tempered their opinions and the crucial state now seems headed for a triangular fight for the 80 parliamentary seats on offer. This change has come because the Congress seems to have suddenly gone into a “war mode”.
Senior leader and the party’s state in charge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, is camping in Lucknow along with state unit chief Raj Babbar and has held several rounds of hectic meeting with state leaders and district office bearers.
For its poll offensive, the Congress is relying on its president Rahul Gandhi to pull in the crowds. He will address 12 rallies over the next one month, in the pre-election notification phase. The first rally will be held in Lucknow and the party hopes to get at least 10 lakh supporters to attend it.
Congress’ national spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh said the rallies “will be an eye opener for all other parties”, echoing what Gandhi himself said soon after the alliance announcement – that the Congress may spring a surprise in the elections.
Apart from Lucknow, other likely rally venues are Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Bareilly, Kanpur, Allahabad, and Jhansi.
With Congress refusing to give up without a fight, the question is will it be a boon for the BJP and a setback for the opposition alliance or will it be the other way round.
Going by the preparations, Congress wants to focus mostly on urban centres. These have been the areas where it believes it has a traditional support base, and caste dynamics are slightly tilted in its favour.
The Congress leadership is also of the opinion that with aggressive posturing, large-scale rallies and choice of good candidates, it still can be a major attraction for the minorities on many seats.
It is this Congress strategy that has made the electoral dynamics interesting. The SP and BSP hoped that Congress, fighting solo, could make a dent in BJP's upper caste vote bank, especially the Brahmins.
Some political analysts feel that by attacking the Congress repeatedly, Mayawati, instead of snubbing it, is trying to raise its stock in the state strategically.
But others feel that Akhilesh and Mayawati may have erred in not including Congress in the alliance. The party, in a resurgent mode, after victories in three Hindi heartland states, has a sense of faith in its self. This was clear when Rahul recently told News18 in Dubai that "SP-BSP might have just underestimated the Congress party."
Comments
0 comment