Congress leader’s meeting with the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri has created a stir in the party ahead of the assembly elections.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra farmer justice Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi (Nyay for Farmers) rally on Sunday has been the high point of a busy political week.
Among the first few opposition leaders to try to reach Lakhimpur Kheri after the death of eight people on October 3, the scenes of his heated argument with Uttar Pradesh policemen while being detained in Sitapur led party colleagues to call it “Indira”. inspired to say Gandhi” moment.
Sidhu’s appointment
The comparison, perhaps, provided him some relief, as he was being questioned for playing a key role in the promotion of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). Many argued that the move was aimed at preventing Sidhu from joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that had carved a niche in Punjab politics.
But the move not only resulted in the removal of Capt (retired) Amarinder Singh as Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Sidhu embarrassed the high command, particularly Ms Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, by resigning in protest against some of the appointments. New Charanjit Singh Channi government.
Though the cricketer-turned-politician has not formally announced his withdrawal from resignation, he has made his point through a series of tweets.
“Guardian Angel of Democracy!!” Mr Sidhu tweeted along with a picture of the Gandhi brothers and sisters hugging the families of farmers who were allegedly bitten by the son of Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra ‘Theni’ in Tikoniya area of Lakhimpur Kheri.
While the Congress says it is a “sin” to link Lakhimpur Kheri with next year’s assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the party will certainly hope that the incident will give it much-needed momentum on the ground.
Election strategist Prashant Kishor tweeted on Friday: “Those looking for a quick, smooth revival of the GOP-led opposition based on the Lakhimpur Kheri incident are setting themselves up for a major disappointment.” [grand old party, a term for the Congress] “Deep-rooted and structural issues” are faced.
“Prashant Kishor is new to politics and has not seen incidents like NT Rama Rao within months of the formation of Telugu Desam Party. Just one moment can change the choice. Priyanka ji’s efforts in UP have not only enthused the workers but also made the Congress a talking point,” counters Kishor Kumar Jha, senior Congress leader from Bihar.
However, he acknowledges that the Congress in the Hindi-speaking states of UP and Bihar needs a dedicated voter base or powerful leaders among voters of particular community and caste.
caste count
Advising the Congress party during the 2017 UP assembly elections, many including Mr Kishor put forward the Congress’s logic of trying to reach out to Brahmins, making up the third largest group after Jatavs and Yadavs.
“It is the reality of politics that votes are mobilized on the basis of caste and Brahmins are angry with BJP because Yogi Adityanath prefers Thakurs. He was once our traditional supporter. Along with Dalits and minorities, we need to recapture the votes of Brahmins,” says Mr. Jha.
However, a CSDS-Lokniti study of trends after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections found that 82 per cent of Brahmins voted in favor of the BJP.
In the same election, Congress managed to win Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli seat, but lost Mr. Gandhi’s Amethi seat to Union Minister Smriti Irani.
The abandonment of prominent Brahmin faces like Jitin Prasad and Laliteshpati Tripathi, great-grandsons of former Congress veteran Kamalapati Tripathi, has further damaged the party’s prospects.
Ms Vadra, once considered a ‘trump card’, now clearly faces a major challenge to build the narrative as well as the party organization in a state where the Congress has not been a major player since 1989. has been
.