After conquering the erstwhile Congress bastion of Amethi, the former constituency of Rahul Gandhi that he lost in 2019 Lok Sabha elections to Smriti Irani, the BJP now is solely focussing on Raebareli and started preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of Sonia Gandhi, is a prestigious seat that the BJP is hellbent on bagging this time around. While the political buzz is that Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, may fight the Lok Sabha election from Amethi, once considered as the Gandhi family bastion, confirmations are not in yet. In 2019 Parliamentary polls, Union Minister Smriti Irani defeated the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, thus forcing him to look southwards for his onward political journey. Ever since, the grand old party has been looking to retrieve the seat from BJP stranglehold in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
AKHILESH BATS FOR CASTE CENSUS; EYEING OBC, DALIT VOTES IN 2024
In a bid to jolt the party cadres ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav paid a visit to Balia, Varanasi and Ghazipur, to deliberate on the issue of a caste census, which the party believes can unite the Other Backward Castes (OBC) and Scheduled Caste (SC) voters in its favour. During the recent Ramcharitmanas controversy, the party tried to shift the emphasis on to caste, with the SP president alleging that the BJP considers him a Shudra (untouchable). While the party has targeted all 80 seats in UP, it is also abuzz with indications that a non-BJP, non-Congress front can emerge nationally. Akhilesh is keeping his options open for a pre-poll alliance on weak seats with other parties.
MAHAGATHBANDHAN, SHAH TO RALLY IN BIHAR; CONGRESS HUDDLE IN RAIPUR
Ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the political theatre in Bihar is heating up. The seven-party alliance of Mahagathbandhan is all set for its mega rally in Purnia, scheduled to be held on February 25, the same day that Union home minister Amit Shah is addressing rallies in the state. The Mahagathbandhan rally, slated to have participation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and other leaders of the alliance partners, is expected to draw huge crowds. However, there has also been a date clash with the Congress’s three-day plenary session starting from February 24 in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. AICC and state committee leaders will have to show their presence ascertaining the respective attendance in Raipur, other leaders and party workers will be attending the rally in Purnia.
POSSIBLE EXODUS OF BSP LEADERS TO SP AFTER IMRAN MASOOD GETS BIG POST
After BSP chief Mayawati appointed Imran Masood as the convener of BSP in western UP, most of the Muslim leaders of BSP are annoyed with this latest development. Sensing the declining support base of the BSP, many leaders could be caught in the mood to switch sides. Speculation is rife that Jaunpur BSP MP Shyam Singh Yadav and MP Haji Fazlur Rehman are afraid of losing seats in the next general elections, so they might join the SP. The leaders are hobnobbing with Shah Alam, known as Guddu Jamali, to join the SP. It remains to be seen if these disaffected BSP leaders will continue to be with Behenji, or join SP to keep their political fortunes going.
DISSENTERS THAROOR, MOILY BACK IN CONGRESS GOOD BOOKS
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accommodated Shashi Tharoor in the committees for the 85th plenary session to be held at Raipur. Tharoor, who is indeed facing the criticism in Kerala with a section of the Congress, who are still carrying a grudge against him for challenging the official line, has been included in the main drafting committee. He has also been appointed the convener of the sub-committee on foreign affairs. The subgroup for political affairs is headed by M. Veerappa Moily, another leader who was a member of the now-disbanded G23. This strategy has led to an open communicative signal to party workers across the country that the Congress high command has taken steps to accommodate high-profile dissenters.
HARYANA CONGRESS STILL UNDER FORMER CM HOODA’S THUMB
The Congress is now anxious about its future in Haryana, given the state unit is run by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who enjoys the support of Jats of the Deswali belt of Sonepat, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts. Former Congress leaders like Ashok Tanwar, Kuldeep Bishnoi have left the party owing to the influence of Hooda. Another Dalit leader KumariSelja has been replaced by UdaiBhan, a Hooda loyalist, showing that the party was still firmly behind Hooda since Selja is seen as someone opposed to him. The barrier between Kiran Chaudhary and Bhupinder Singh Hooda is wide and is somewhat of an open secret within the party and outside. Though the Congress has been out of power in Haryana since 2014, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed its first government in the state under Manohar Lal Khattar, it has managed to remain a party of significance. Observers are of strong opinion that without the non-Jat votes, the Congress cannot win the assembly elections in Haryana because the Jats are divided between Congress, INLD and newly formed Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), headed by Dushyant Chautala, which won ten seats (14.8% of the votes) in the 2022 Assembly polls. The Jat community comprises 27 percent of the state’s population and has a strong presence in around 40 of the 90 assembly seats. (IPA Service)
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