With Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai busy campaigning in Varanasi from where he is contesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Gandhi siblings addressing just one rally and a roadshow so far, the Congress has left its UP campaign during the first two phases of elections largely to AICC general secretary in charge of the state Avinash Pande, who focused mainly on holding INDIA bloc co-ordination meetings in the districts.
In comparison, over the three weeks leading up to April 26, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had addressed 38 rallies and prabudh sammelans (intellectuals’ conferences). Even PM Modi addressed seven public meetings and led two roadshows until April 26 as against one road show in Saharanpur by AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, which she held for party candidate Imran Masood. In this period, Rahul Gandhi addressed just one rally, jointly with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Amroha for Congress candidate Danish Ali.
In UP, where the Congress campaigns have been led by one or the other Gandhi sibling over the past several elections, their absence in the campaign so far is being felt, even as party cadre await the announcement of their names from Amethi and Raebareli to boost their morale for the remaining phases.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and party candidate from Kannauj constituency Akhilesh Yadav during an election roadshow for the Lok Sabha elections. (PTI Photo)
Out of the 26 seats in western UP, polling has so far taken place in 16 seats over two phases. Polling for the remaining 10 seats would take place in the third phase on May 7
Of the 17 seats the Congress is contesting across UP in alliance with the SP as part of the INDIA bloc, six are in western UP. Five of these went to the polls in the first two phases.
The Congress’s INDIA partner SP is trying to mount its campaigning, which
mainly depends on Akhilesh Yadav. Akhilesh’s uncle Shivpal is largely busy campaigning for his son Aditya Yadav, who is making his poll debut in Badaun.
Akhilesh, who began his electioneering from Pilibhit on April 12, has been able to address just eight public meetings in the past 14 days, covering Bijnor, Meerut, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Etah.
Akhilesh also addressed the “INDIA gathbandhan karyakarta sammelan” on April 24 in Etawah under the Mainpuri constituency, from where his wife Dimple Yadav is contesting.
The third phase would be significant for the SP also because three seats up for polls are its bastions, with Dimple Yadav contesting from Mainpuri and Akhilesh’s cousins Akshay and Aditya from Firozabad and Badaun, respectively.
While the INDIA candidates were hoping to benefit from the joint rallies of Akhilesh and Rahul, only one could be arranged in the first two phases, that too for a Congress candidate.
In contrast, CM Yogi has touched many constituencies twice, some even thrice, through public meetings or prabudh sammelans. He began with a prabudh sammelan in Mathura about four weeks ago, and went on to address such sammelans in Meerut, Ghaziabad, Shamli, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Hathras, Bulandshahr, Gauram Budhha Nagar, Pilibhit, Badaun, Bareilly, and Agra.
In just the past two weeks, Adityanath has also addressed public meetings in Mathura, Baghpat, Aligarh, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Nagina, Rampur, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Moradabad, Pilibhit, and Gautam Budhha Nagar, among other places. In constituencies like Nagina, Baghpat and Saharanpur, he has addressed more than two rallies over the past month.
Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad constituency in Kerala went to polls on April 26, following which Congress cadres are hoping for the top party leaders’ campaigning to intensify in the state in the remaining five phases.
