The Congress would announce its “face” for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls within the next six months against the BSP supremo Mayawati, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (the Samajwadi’s face) a
The Congress would announce its “face” for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls within the next six months against the BSP supremo Mayawati, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (the Samajwadi’s face) and the BJP. But it is tight-lipped on who its would be.
The Congress used to be reluctant to project a “leader” in Assembly elections for a number of internal reasons but it is now fighting the Punjab battle under the leadership of Capt Amarinder Singh and earlier had fought the Bihar polls with the “face” of chief minister Nitish Kumar(JD-U).
Asked “do you have a charismatic face which can be compared with Ms Mayawati and Mr Yadav and the BJP”, a Congress leader said, “You will see within the next six months.” He added the BJP would face problems by projecting or not projecting a face in UP.
“They had fought the Delhi polls under the leadership of Kiran Bedi and got routed. They did not project a face in the Bihar elections but the move also went completely against them,” he said.
While the Congress has made clear that the BJP would be its main target in the UP battle to take place in the next 13 months, insiders are unsure of the party’s support base. A Congress MP said the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was an aberration for the saffron party in UP, where its original strength has been 10 to 15 MPs.
The BJP cannot repeat its performance in 2017 because of the number of factors, he said, but remained evasive on who will vote for the Congress. This is because the state has been sharply polarised on caste and communal lines since 1989.
A section of the party wants to have a pre-poll alliance with the BSP to become relevant despite the AICC having roped in political strategist and policy advisor Prashant Kishor.
