Rahul Gandhi in Varanasi
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, February 17: Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi reached Uttar Pradesh on Saturday as part of his Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra. On the first day of the visit, Gandhi reached Varanasi, the important Hindi heartland. He arrives in UP at a time when the opposition faction, the Indian National Development and Inclusive Alliance, has weakened.
On the first day of the yatra in UP, Apna Dal joined Congress leaders at a press conference in Varanasi, where organization leader Pallavi Patel joined opposition leaders. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav also joined Gandhi during his Bihar tour.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinet denied the media’s question on the news of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Efforts at opposition unity in UP have already suffered a setback as the Rashtriya Lok Dal is set to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance for the Lok Sabha elections. RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary has said that his party decided to join the NDA after the central government announced to posthumously honor former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh with the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna.
Samajwadi Party seems to be setting the conditions for the opposition group in UP. Congress can approach smaller parties for a broad alliance. Also, there is speculation in the political circles that Congress may enter into an informal agreement with Mayawati led Bahujan Samaj Party.
After RLD’s exit, pressure is increasing on the opposition to seek the support of BSP supremo. With Mayawati holding 18 per cent of the Dalit vote base, the BSP is likely to be the dominant factor in the western parts of the state. At the same time, the Congress is also wary that the BSP contesting the Lok Sabha elections could split the anti-BJP votes.
It may be recalled that in the 2014 general elections, BJP had won 72 Lok Sabha seats after BSP contested on its own. A similar result is expected amid increasing possibilities of vote base division.
However, Mayawati has said that her party will contest the elections on its own. But she has also been sharply critical of the BJP and the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has attacked the Modi government on economic issues. This is being seen as a signal to the Congress that the party can keep its options open for the Lok Sabha elections.
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