Rahul-Akhilesh team-up? UP polls could throw surprises
No “ekla chalo re”
Wednesday evening, 12, Tughlaq Lane, was buzzing with activity. A fleet of sparkling white cars, mostly SUVs, arrived in a disciplined and purposeful manner and aligned themselves outside Rahul Gandhi's residence.
The Congress vice-president was meeting the 20-odd party MLAs from the poll-bound state and crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
Rahul hunts for answers
The state leaders seemed excited about the sudden importance showered on them.
Rahul met them one-on-one for about 10 minutes and then all in a group, accompanied by UP in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad and state president Raj Babbar. The Gandhi scion was hopefully aware that the party’s fortunes had dwindled and the leaders he was talking to were a disgruntled lot struggling with an uphill task of retaining their constituency.
Rahul, who himself represents the Amethi constituency of UP, surprised everybody when he spoke about the turmoil in the SP. He asked all those present to give their opinion about the father-son duo of Mulayam and Akhilesh Yadav, the CM.
As the leaders exchanged glances, they knew that somewhere the Congress campaign in UP had run out of steam. Otherwise why would Rahul, who had so adamantly rebutted the question of an alliance with any party in a UP Congress Committee meeting way back in December, ask this question?
Sources say that most of the MLAs were in favour of an alliance in view of the adverse political scenario. Rahul asked them which person, Mulayam or Akhilesh, had a better image? To which the common consensus was in favour of the young chief minister.
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| SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has sent his trusted brother Shivpal to Delhi to do the talking. (Photo credit: India Today) |
2012 - Tipu vs Yuvraj, 2017 - Tipu and Yuvraj?
In the last state assembly election of 2012, Rahul was seen challenging the young leader from the rival Samajwadi Party. When the results came out, the “Tipu” had beaten the Congress “Yuvraj” hands down.
Life seems to have come full circle for Rahul because five years later, the Congress doesn't seem to have enthused the UPwallahs one bit.
Now Rahul is staring at an election where his party seems to be struggling to be a participant. The Priyanka Gandhi factor has been factored out and the party doesn't have enough candidates to contest all 403 seats. Even incumbent MLAs are fleeing the party.
Yes, poll strategist Prashant Kishor was roped in and he did give Congress a head-start, but that said, in the age-old party stiff to change he made more enemies than friends and now the knives are already out for him.
That's the reason why the Congress has dropped the baton of “ekla chalo re” and is now eyeing options, even if that means it will be eating into its own votebank, whatever is remaining.
A source privy to the Wednesday meeting said Rahul told leaders that: “Mayawati was both inaccessible and unwilling for any alliance, and in that case the Congress was left with no option but SP to align with.”
Another senior leader party to internal decision-making hinted that channels of communication have been on between Akhilesh's team and the Congress, and sooner or later some decision would be reached; the idea is to get the best bargain.
Migration fever high in election season
A few months earlier, if the same meeting would have taken place, Rahul would have met the full house 29 MLAs.
Alas! This meeting of MLAs was happening after two years! Despite assembly elections round the corner, several requests for meetings with Rahul had fallen on deaf ears.
So in election season, MLAs hunting for greener pastures, including bigwigs like Rita Bahuguna Joshi, moved on. Soon the number of turncoats reached nine and the buzz was that many were in the cue for more lucrative offers.
Sources have confirmed that at present, almost six of the 20 MLAs are on the look-out, their meeting with Rahul notwithstanding.
Survival of the fittest and “mahagathbandhan” formula
After the SP family-feud was out in the open, the Yadavs have been quick to do a reality check and have realised the urgency for a mahagathbandhan (grand alliance). SP chief Mulayam has sent his trusted brother Shivpal to Delhi to do the talking.
So on Wednesday, the capital was also witness to Shivpal meeting veteran leader from the Janata Dal-United, Sharad Yadav. On Thursday, the latter met another veteran, but from the Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Apparently, he was sent by the senior Gandhi to test the waters for alliance. When a few reporters met Sharad Yadav after the meeting, the usually vocal Sharadji refused to discuss politics at all and offered sweets instead.
This itself is an indication that there is something brewing in the closed-door meetings. The million dollar question is, whether the mahagathbandhan can do the trick as it did in Bihar or will it flop.
Hold your horses, picture abhi baki hai mere dost.