Active Stocks
Tue Mar 19 2024 12:50:50
  1. Tata Consultancy Services share price
  2. 4,020.85 -2.99%
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 150.10 0.33%
  1. Bharti Airtel share price
  2. 1,232.40 0.60%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 260.05 -1.87%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 410.00 -1.77%
Business News/ Politics / India/  In a risky gambit, Gandhis bet big on Uttar Pradesh over Punjab
BackBack

In a risky gambit, Gandhis bet big on Uttar Pradesh over Punjab

Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are focusing exclusively on Uttar Pradesh, hoping a good show will revive the Congress party's national fortunes

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh party unit president Raj Babbar and chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit at an election roadshow in Lucknow. Photo: PTIPremium
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh party unit president Raj Babbar and chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit at an election roadshow in Lucknow. Photo: PTI

Two years after being drubbed in the Lok Sabha election, the Congress is regrouping for a big push in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Spearheading the campaign is Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and being advised by Prashant Kishor, the poll strategist who scripted Nitish Kumar’s victory in the 2015 Bihar election.

The implicit bet is that a good performance in both states—in Punjab, the party has a shot at forming the government—will bolster the leadership credentials of Gandhi, which has come into question following the repeated electoral reversals suffered by the Congress since 2014.

However, at the moment, Gandhi is focusing most of his energies and time in UP, leading to a section of the party’s Punjab unit feeling neglected. While Gandhi has formally launched the Congress campaign in UP, he is yet to do so in Punjab.

The calculation in the Gandhi camp is that a revival in UP could act as a force multiplier for the party, especially since it suffered its worst defeat in the 16th general election—only Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were able to win out of the 67 seats contested by the Congress in the state.

The party has been out of power in UP for 27 years and the last time it secured a double-digit vote share in the state was in the 1993 assembly election.

In contrast, in Punjab, the party was in power till 2007 and has maintained a vote share of more than 40% in the previous two assembly elections.

UP has 80 Lok Sabha seats and Punjab 13.

Within the party, opinion is divided on the role of the Gandhis in the Punjab campaign.

One section believes that they should support the campaign led by Amarinder Singh, the popular former chief minister, instead of playing the lead—like they are doing in UP.

At the same time, there is a section which argues that Punjab is being ignored at the cost of UP, which has become a “prestige fight" for the Congress.

“Since the two states are going to polls together, there seems to be an obvious dichotomy in the kind of attention that the top leaders are paying to both the states. Congress wants to revive itself in UP and it goes beyond the prestige issue—it is the one state where our performance will impact the entire north India. For Punjab, we feel we are comfortably placed there and Captain (Amarinder Singh) is experienced enough to lead it," a senior party leader said, requesting anonymity.

Rahul Gandhi has been holding a nearly month-long ‘kisan yatra’ (farmers’ march) in UP apart from a few other public meetings. Party president Sonia Gandhi launched the poll campaign in the state as early as August with a roadshow in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency.

In contrast, the Gandhis are yet to formally launch their respective campaigns in Punjab.

Rahul Gandhi, party leaders say, is likely to hold a rally in Moga next month, but the details are yet to be announced.

“We don’t know why the top leadership hasn’t started campaigning in Punjab; may be they will do it after the elections. But we know that we are strongly placed in Punjab and that Captain would steer us to a clear victory," a senior party leader from Punjab said, requesting anonymity.

Over the weekend, Singh flagged off a campaign called ‘Congress liyao, Punjab bachao’ (bring Congress, save Punjab). The campaign involves 40 senior party leaders travelling across the state in mini buses and holding ‘nukkad sabhas’ or street corner meetings in all the constituencies.

Interestingly, despite several public pronouncements by Singh, the Congress hasn’t named him as the chief ministerial candidate, although he remains the face of the party’s campaign.

Yet, it departed from the norm and named former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial candidate in UP.

“It is obvious that Congress’s top leadership is focusing more on UP than Punjab. They know that a better performance in UP will be a game changer and it will have an effect on its politics across India," said Abhay Kumar Dubey, a New Delhi-based political analyst associated with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. “In Punjab, everything has been handed over to Captain. A win in Punjab will be the Captain’s win and not the Gandhis’. I think it is a very good strategy."

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Published: 28 Sep 2016, 12:46 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App