Congress leaders, who had gone into dormant mode, are now regretting not forming a Bihar-style alliance in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. By-elections are going to be held for 12 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat in UP on September 13, and the nomination process will end soon. It seems that all this while the Congress was inactive
After the results of by-elections, Congress leaders have come out of their slumber. The party leaders, who had gone into dormant mode, are now regretting not forming a Bihar-style alliance in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. By-elections are going to be held for 12 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat in UP on September 13, and the nomination process will end soon. It seems that all this while the Congress was inactive. In fact, its leaders didn’t have an iota of inkling that the grand alliance between the JDU, RJD and Congress in Bihar could pose a big challenge for the BJP. They didn’t even think that the BJP could face an embarrassing situation in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka. That is why the party didn’t forge an alliance nor did it select a good candidate or campaign rigorously. The State leaders had sent a message that there was dearth of good candidates and resources. The Congress could have formed an effective alliance with Mulayam Singh and Ajit Singh.
Likewise, the Congress could have tied up with other parties in Bengal, Assam and Andhra Pradesh. In Bengal, the Congress could have gone with the Left and the TMC; in Assam, it could have gone with the AIUDF; and in Andhra Pradesh, YSR could have been taken into confidence.
RESPITE FOR STATE CONG LEADERS
After the by-poll results, many Congress kshatrapas are on cloud nine. They are hopeful of getting the much-awaited relief from the party high command. In Karnataka, Siddaramaiah can get respite. Most of the State leaders were lobbying against him, but he has proved his leadership after winning two of three seats. Victory on Bellary rural seat is being considered as a big success for him. This seat was traditionally a BJP stronghold due to Reddy brothers. Now, it is being said that the campaign against Siddaramaiah will end.
Likewise, PCC president of Bihar Ashok Chaudhary stands vindicated. Senior leaders of the Congress feel Chaudhary has a good rapport with Lalu and Nitish. Due to this equation, he was chosen and now the Congress has won one seat. In the same manner, Capt Amarinder Singh has become the undisputed leader in Punjab. The State president Pratap Singh Bajwa had sent him to Amritsar to fight Lok Sabha Elections against Arun Jaitely so that he could lose. But Singh won and Bajwa lost. In the by-elections, Bajwa concentrated on Talwandi Sabo seat and didn’t once go to Patiala where Singh’s wife Parneet was a candidate. Parneet won and the victory made Singh’s family stronger.
SEARCH FOR UP CONGRESS CHIEF
Search for UP Congress president has gathered pace. For the past three months, ie after the results of Lok Sabha Elections, there was indecisiveness in appointing the new PCC president after the removal of Nirmal Khatri. But now it is being said that the post will be filled soon. Technically, Madhusudan Mistry, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, is still in-charge of UP Congress, but he was out of the State’s politics even before the Lok Sabha Elections. He had gone to Vadodara to fight against Narendra Modi. That is why he was not active in UP during the polls.
Reliable sources in the Congress say the party can consider the name of any Brahmin leader for the post of PCC president. The name of Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who was once the State president, is doing the rounds. Apart from her, Pramod Tiwari, who had been the CLP leader for years, is also in the race. Former MP from Varanasi, Rajesh Mishra, is also being considered. In the last Lok Sabha Elections, Mishra could not get ticket. Former minister Jitin Prasada is also a contender. Apart from these four Brahmin faces, Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, Sanjay Singh, is also in the race.
BJP LEADERS IN BIHAR UNFAZED
It seems that the result of by-elections hasn’t affected BJP leaders in Bihar. Reason: in the Lok Sabha Elections of 2009, many MLAs of JDU and BJP had become MPs and by-elections were held on the seats. Then the RJD-LJP-Congress alliance had done extremely well. But after one year, when Assembly Elections were held, the same alliance flopped. Giving this example, leaders of State BJP are saying that RJD-JDU-Congress alliance will be a big flop in next year’s Assembly Elections too.
The expectations are high and that is the reason why party leaders are not ready to analyse this defeat. They are not accepting that anything wrong happened in the ticket distribution. They are not accepting that there is a lot of infighting in the party and due to this, campaigning was not done properly. Most of the BJP leaders in Bihar are not ready to accept that the people of the State are not confident of the present leadership. They are of the view that they are going to form the next Government in Bihar and the leadership issue will be sorted out before that.
AMIT SHAH’S PAN INDIA TOUR
BJP’s national president Amit Shah will soon start an all-India tour, covering States where Assembly and by-elections are scheduled. After taking charge of the party, he went to UP — where by-elections will be held on 12 seats — and stayed for two days. After that he went to Hyderabad and reviewed the preparations for by-election for one Lok Sabha seat, one Assembly seat, and election for Mayor. He has been to Haryana twice, and has also gone to Jammu and Kashmir.
Now, he is expected to go to Kolkata where by-elections are scheduled on two seats. After that he will go to Jharkhand where elections will be held in the next two months. Then he will move to Maharashtra. He will also go to Assam and some North-eastern States. He will concentrate on Tamil Nadu and Kerala to consolidate the organisation in Southern India. When elections in four States are over, Shah will be more active in Bihar and UP. He will also concentrate on the preparation for 2016 Assembly Elections.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO PMS
Leader of JKLF Yasin Malik has exposed the last UPA Government and its leader Manmohan Singh. In the present scenario, on one hand Malik’s revelations are frustrating for the Congress, but on the other hand it will give respite to the BJP in the next Assembly Elections. Malik expressed surprise on Modi’s decision to call off talks with Pakistan and said Singh had told him to have a talk with terrorists for which he had gone to Pakistan.
See the difference — on one hand is the proposal to talk to terrorists and on the other is keeping aside talks due to a meeting with separatists and Pakistan high commissioner. Singh wanted to talk to terrorists, but Modi called off the talks with Pakistan because its high commissioner engaged with Kashmiri separatists before the secretary-level talks.
