The Congress has a tough task ahead of the 2014 lok Sabha elections. The party has to first put its house in order before taking on its opponents. Almost everybody knows that Minister for Steel and Mines Beni Prasad Verma has a foot in the mouth disease. He has, in the past, put his former party Samajwadi Party on the defensive. Once he was in the Congress, all went well as long as his barbs were aimed at the rivals. But the party was taken by surprise when, much to their embarrassment, Beni put his foot in the mouth on the day the new Gujarati party incharge Madhusudan Mistri set foot in the State for the first time.
Just imagine, even as the partymen were trying to put the prevailing factionalism and lack of interest shown in day-to-day functioning which had set in over the past several years as a result of the party’s dismal performance both in the Vidhan Sabha as well as lok Sabha elections, the Minister spilled the beans by casting aspersions on his senior party leaders.
The Minister stated that some of the partymen had taken huge sums of money from the SP to defeat the Congress in the last elections and said that certain partymen were working as a ‘B-team’ of the SP. Although Beni is known for his flippant remarks, it has cost him dear this time as his allegations are indirectly aimed at none other than former UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who was heading the party at that time. Even worse is the fact that the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had in the last elections stated that he would be personally selecting candidates for the polls and ticket distribution would be entirely carried out by him.
little did Beni realise that his off-the cuff remarks will land him in trouble this time. The party had ignored his comments in the past since it was mainly targeted at the SP, his old friend-turned foe. However Beni’s recent remarks have been taken with utmost seriousness as the news of his statement has reached 10 Janpath. Obviously the Minister’s critics are trying to ensure that he does not get away with his comments, which hit the headlines in the media.
But what is more disturbing is the fact that it were the party leaders who brought the Minister’s allegations to the notice of the new UP-in-charge on his first visit to the UPCC headquarters, where he was scheduled to interact with the party’s office bearers and coordinators. Mistri is believed to have raised objections to the comments, which exposed the widening rift within the party ranks.
The question doing the rounds is whether or not the party High Command will put a check on the Minister’s frequent remarks that puts the party on the defensive. Such loose remarks will obviously have a bearing on the party’s image prior to the 2014 lok Sabha elections, which have become crucial for the UPA-II Government.
One will have to keep fingers crossed to see what the party’s next move is going to be as it can ill afford to ignore the problems in the State. This is because it has far reaching consequences involving the PCC chief and Rahul Gandhi.
the contest
Two senior BSP leaders, Satish Chandra Mishra and Naseemuddin Siddiqui are busy competing with each other these days. Both happen to be close confidenate’s of the BSP chief Mayawati. While Mishra has been entrusted the job of consolidating the Brahmin votes, Siddiqui’s task is to bring the minorities to the partyfold. Mishra, considered as the Brahmin face in the party, has already held a number of Brahmin sammelans throughout the State. The earlier set up Brahmin Bhaichara Samitis have also been revived for this purpose.
Former minister Naseemuddin has now started holding minority sammelans in different parts of the State, especially in the Muslim dominated areas. If Mishra is the party’s Brahmin face, Siddiqui is the minority leader in the party ranks.
Though the Congress and the BJP have only managed to get their house in order, the BSP has already announced its prospective candidates for the 2014 lok Sabha. Many party leaders have started working in their respective parliamentary constituencies. The coming elections and the party’s performance will finally decide who is the bigger loyalist to take the party forward, Mishra or Siddiqui.
in his footsteps
The recent visit by the BJP national president Rajnath Singh and the Gujarati UP incharge Amit Shah has sent a message that is loud and clear — that the party will from henceforth follow Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s plans for the 2014 lok Sabha elections.
The intra-party bickerings which had beset the party has come to a halt on the arrival of the new UP incharge. This is because all want to be on the right side of Shah. Most of the partymen had an eye on securing tickets for the polls and had to project a clean and dedicated image.
Of course, it is a different matter that the party has yet to draw up the plans for ticket distribution. According to the BJP president, priority will be given to the young leaders. So the senior partymen had better beware.