Buoyed with their recent success following `Mahaghatbandhan’ formula in Bihar, the activities amongst Congress leaders suddenly hot-up here in the State.
The Party All India General Secretary, Madhusudan Mistri, who is also in-charge of the Party affairs here in Uttar Pradesh, had called up a meeting of all the senior leaders in Gautambudhnagar (Noida) on coming Saturday to discuss future strategy for the Assembly elections which is schedule to take place in the beginning of 2017. However, even before the Party veterans gathered to draw a `Road-Map’ for Party’s comeback in the State after passing of more than 25-years of exile, the move received a set-back due to growing differences amongst the senior leaders whether they should go alone or adopt Bihar’s formula, at least to keep Bharatiya Janta Party away from forming government here in the biggest State of the country. Sources said that while State President and senior office bearers of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) firmly believe that they should go alone, Party’s veterans feel that the main agenda of the Congress should be to keep away BJP from coming to power than to ensure Party’s victory.
“The Defeat of the BJP in UP will prove last nail in the coffin for Saffron Brigade who were dreaming of a repeat in 2019 Parliament polls,” asserted a former union minister and a veteran Congress leader while advocating that the Party should go for Bihar’s formula as the Party’s main motive is to comeback in the Centre than grabbing back power in Uttar Pradesh.
Interestingly, besides majority of former minister in the United Progressive Alliance government, hailing from UP had similar views and they were also supported by Congress legislative Party (ClP) leader, Pradeep Mathur, who too advocated `Mahaghatbandhan’ for UP, but the State President, Nirmal Khatri, out-rightly rejected it. ``No, there would be no agenda of discussion on `Mahaghatbandhan’ during the Congress leaders meeting at Noida on coming Saturday”, disclosed chairman of the UPCC media committee, Satyadeo Tripathi. Talking on behalf of State president, Nirmal Khatri, who was not present at UPCC office on Monday, Tripathi said that there should be no debate whether they would go for `Mahaghatbandhan’ or not as Khatri had made it official that they will go alone in the next Assembly elections.
``We will only discuss the strategy to draw a road-nap that how we should move forward exposing all the other Party’s government which included BJP, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, who had done nothing in the last 25-years of non-Congress rule in Uttar Pradesh but pushed the State far behind in compare to other States”, asserted Tripathi while ruling out any alliance with the three major political opponents. When he was reminded of statement of former union ministers, ClP leader, Pradeep Mathur or even give by Party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Pl Puniya, advocating `Grand Alliance’ in UP also, Tripathi said that he did not want to go into any controversy but the Party’s stand is very loud and clear for everyone and that they will go alone in the next Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.