Rahul Magic Not Working

There is no doubt that the Congress is leaving no stone unturned to make its heat felt in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the polls next month. Yuva neta and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi is going the extra mile with his political career at stake. But it cuts no ice. A recent survey of the Congress party revealed that the Congress would not be able to get more than 40-45 seats despite all hard work and toil of Rahul Gandhi. This result has dampened the mood of many seniors of the party. Eventually it was decided to field Priyanka to boost the morale of her brother and revamp the election campaigning. Like ever before Priyanka was seen in Rai Barely and Amethi wooing the voters to support both her brother and mother. However, other Congress workers were not fortunate enough to get any chance of Priyanka’s visit to any other constituency.

Lalu-Chalu Wields Clout

Former Railway Minister in the UPA-I government Lalu Prasad Yadav, though not in the second term of UPA cabinet, still holds a strong ground in the Congress lobby. This came to light in the assembly election of Uttar Pradesh recently where Yadav managed to get a ticket for the prospective father-in-law of her daughter from Sikandrabad. Very peculiar as it sounds, the same ticket for the above seat was declared almost one month ago for Nizam Malik. When Nizam Malik was given the ticket, he was seen really too busy campaigning in his constituency but out of the blue the Congress cancelled his candidature and gave the ticket to Jitentra Yadav, father-in-law of Lalu’s daughter. It is noteworthy that Jitendra Yadav held a post in Samajvadi Party. So much so, the plaque as state secretary of SP still reads his name aloud, firmly placed on the gate of his house.

Cat Congress Caterwauling On Hot Bricks

The Congress seems to be running from pillar to post to form its government in Uttar Pradesh. For this purpose, the Congress party has resorted to all those possible tactics available under the sun. Sources said that Rahul Gandhi in person met SP superemo Mulayam Singh Yadav twice exploring the possibility of a post-election alliance. The Congress is playing all its cards up its sleeve fearing the whitewash in the state. A senior Congress leader seemed hopeful of getting more seats in the state. But in the same breath he is scared what if the Congress fails to come in power in the state, as this might drive a good number of newly elected MLAs to join other parties in power.

Tailpiece

It is difficult to say how much beneficial is the comeback-trail of Uma Bharti to the BJP, but it is definite that she is giving a run to the Congress for its money. Recently, when Gadkari announced that Uma Bharti would contest the election from Bundelkhand, the crowd there in the rallies and meetings of Rahul Gandhi thinned substantially. After two-three public meetings in which very few people were present, Rahul retreated to the hotel. The organisers of his trip, Raj Babbar and Pradeep Jain went to meet him for the planning of the next day. A frustrated Rahul refused to meet them and didn’t even allow them to stay there.