Speculations are rife in the Congress again that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra might become the face of the party in Uttar Pradesh. If sources are to be believed, the Congress is discussing her name though it is not clear whether she will be the Chief Minister face or in-charge of the campaign committee.
Congress leaders who earlier said that strategist Prashant Kishor would not continue for long are now saying he can manage anything. They believe he is the brain behind the removal of UP in-charge Madhusudan Mistry, and soon State President Nirmal Khatri will also be asked to leave. Now, Kishor’s third recommendation is to project Priyanka as the face of the party in the State.
The new in-charge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has given an indication that the party will project its CM candidate and he/she will not be selected based on caste equations. Such a face can only come from the Gandhi family. So, many leaders are saying that Priyanka might get the responsibility of State President and chairman of the campaign committee.
CORE VOTE BANK CRISIS
As the Assembly Elections near in UP, political parties are becoming restless. The biggest factor for discomfort is that not one party is confident of its core vote bank. Whenever there is a direct fight in UP, the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are able to save their core vote bank. But whenever there is a four-cornered fight, no party has been able to save its core vote bank. A similar situation is arising in UP this time. The SP, BSP, BJP and Congress are all active; the core vote banks of each party are not consolidated but rather split.
During the last lok Sabha Elections, the BJP had made a dent into the vote bank of both the SP and BSP. The BJP had won all reserved seats as it was able to get the votes of Dalits. That was the reason why Mayawati had not won even a single seat. The BJP had even grabbed the core votes of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
That is why the SP and BSP are apprehensive this time. They are of the view that if the BJP manages to polarise voters on the name of Hindutva, then they will certainly lose a major chunk of their core vote banks.
In the same manner, the BJP is apprehensive of forward voters. The party believes that despite all its efforts, the Brahmin voters are not inclined towards it till date. If the Brahmins go into the BSP fold, then the BJP will suffer a big setback. The BJP is also worried about Thakur voters, and the SP is trying its best to keep this vote bank intact.
The SP, BSP and Congress are also worried about the Muslim vote bank. It is not yet clear whether they will move
en masse or will split. The three parties are fighting against the BJP with their full strength and are hopeful of bagging Muslim votes.
The BSP is giving a message that Dalits and Brahmins are with Mayawati, so Muslims should also come forward. On the other hand, SP is staking a claim on Yadav and Thakur votes, and thus trying to attract the Muslim vote bank. The Congress is saying that it is the only option of the BJP at all-India level, so the Muslims should strengthen the party.
BACCHA RAI’S GODFATHER
There is a war in Bihar over Baccha Rai. He is the accused in the Intermediate topper scam and is behind bars. But leaders of various parties are fighting over who is the godfather of Baccha RaiIJ When the scam was unearthed, there were speculations that Baccha is the baccha of lalu Prasad Yadav. Media was showing a video in which Baccha was sharing stage with lalu and his son Tej Pratap. Many photographs went viral on social media which showed Baccha was close to lalu.
But then Tejaswi Yadav shared a photograph on Twitter of Giriraj Singh giving prizes to students at Baccha’s college. After that a Twitter war broke out between Giriraj and Tejaswi. Giriraj said there were photos showing him with lalu also, but by virtue of that he could not be an alleged in fodder scam. Tejaswi again attacked Giriraj and said that BJP leaders were well aware of his honesty and that was the reason why they were not defending him. Many supporters of the JDU and RJD wrote that Giriraj and Baccha were to start a medical college.
Meanwhile, Giriraj and his supporters have unearthed a photograph in which Baccha is seen with Nitish Kumar. That photograph has been shared on social media also. Now, the focus has been shifted to the CM, and JDU leaders have also plunged into this war. Photographs of Baccha with some more leaders are yet to come out and this debate will go deeper.
AMAR SINGH ACTIVE IN SP
Amar Singh has become active soon after being elected as a Rajya Sabha member. He has started defending the Samajwadi Party in his traditional style. He is defending Shivpal Yadav more than the party as Shivpal had helped him a lot.
On June 11, Amar was elected to Rajya Sabha and the very next day, he called a press conference to defend Shivpal. Amar rejected the allegations leveled against Shivpal in the Mathura fiasco and attacked the Central Government. He raised questions over the Home Ministry and asked why the investigative agencies didn’t give any information about the activities in Jawahar Bagh.
There are two different and distinct reasons behind the attack on Rajnath Singh’s ministry. SP leaders are of the view that they can send out a message to Thakur voters in the State. They know that either officially or unofficially, Rajnath will be the face of the BJP for UP Assembly Elections, and if he plays an active role, then Thakur votes will go to the BJP fold. They know that Rajnath has the capability to pull the SP’s Thakur voters towards the BJP. That is why the SP has made Amar active.
On one hand, Amar will be active for Thakur votes, and on the other, he will defend the SP in media. His close associates are saying that what Ram Gopal was doing earlier will be now done by Amar. In fact, Ram Gopal is not happy with the party’s stand on Amar, so he will not be active for party work. Even before the Rajya Sabha elections, he had gone abroad. So, apart from election politics, Amar has started managing things even outside Uttar Pradesh.
SENIORS IN RAHUl’S TEAM
Jairam Ramesh had recently said that Rahul Gandhi was the real President of the party, and last Saturday Rahul himself endorsed that statement. In Ghaziabad, Rahul said he was the chief of the Congress and had the responsibility of looking after his partymen. So, it is only a matter of time when he will take charge of the party officially. Rahul has also started building his team and might accommodate some veteran leaders too.
Senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kamal Nath have been made General Secretaries. Apart from them, some other veteran leaders will also find place in Rahul’s team. Madhusudan Mistry has been appointed in-charge General Secretary of the central campaign committee. He can be made organisation General Secretary in place of Janardan Dwivedi.
Among old General Secretaries, CP Joshi will continue. The results of Bihar and West Bengal have made his position strong. Digvijaya Singh might also continue provided Rahul instructs his close associate Jitendra Singh to continue. Mukul Wasnik may continue as the Dalit face, but this is also a fact that K Raju wants to become a General Secretary.