New Delhi: Talk of Priyanka Gandhi to be the Congress’ face in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has begun in the party circles with insiders feeling that this could make the Congress relevant against the BSP, Samajwadi Party and the BJP.
“Currently, we are placed in the fourth position and thus not seen even as a potential player. Prashant Kishor, the one-time strategist for Narendra Modi, cannot revive the Congress in Uttar Pradesh,” viewed a section of the Congress.
While the Congress got two Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh, it can play neither a “caste” (dalit, OBC or even upper castes) nor the “religion” (Hindu) card before these three rival parties.
“What will Prashant Kishor do in Uttar Pradesh without a ‘face’ or a caste support and the strong organisational structure. He delivered in the Bihar Assembly polls because Nitish Kumar was the chief minister and a ‘face’ of the JD(U)-RJD combine whose Muslim-Yadav combination worked well with the developmental works of Nitish Kumar,” they pointed out.
Knowing well that the Congress’ brand has not been working in Uttar Pradesh, a section of the party leaders is even suggesting that the Congress should ally with the Mayawati-led party.
But the real issue is why the Congress high command is not utilising the charisma of Priyanka Gandhi for the party’s revival. “If Rahul Gandhi is going to succeed mother Sonia Gandhi, then what would be the role of Priyanka? Will she continue to work behind the scene?” they asked.
Arvind Kejriwal of the AAP, JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar are changing the grammar of contemporary politics because of their issue-based and value-based politics, they feel.
If the BJP will go aggressively on the issue of “nationalism” which will work as hard Hindutva at the ground level in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP’s priority is to retain its hold on dalit votes and thus attract minorities to defeat the BJP and the Samajwadi Party could face anti-incumbency in the coming elections. While the SP, BSP have chief ministerial candidates — Akhilesh Yadav (incumbent CM) and Ms Mayawati — the BJP could project a hardliner.
