Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyaya yatra hit the hindi heartland recently, touring both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In Bihar he managed to piggyback on former deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav’s popularity as he rode in his jeep and criss crossed the state. Post Nitish Kumar’s latest U turn, Tejashwi is fast becoming the tallest leader in the state, specially from the opposition camp and the INDIA bloc’s hopes are riding high on him. Morever, in Bihar the Congress and the RJD have a pretty stable alliance going that has weathered many an election.
Uttar Pradesh was an altogether different story as Akhilesh Yadav held out till the last minute, refusing to join the seat sharing had been finalised. He had initially offered only 11 seats while the Congress wanted 28. Finally with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s intervention, this number came up to 17 but it does include some BJP bastions such as Varanasi. But the Congress has bigger worries on its mind. For instance, it has to find the right candidates for the Gandhi bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli. There is talk that after Sonia Gandhi had shifted to the Rajya Sabha that Priyanka would be contesting from Rae Bareli; but that is still up in the air. As is the party’s candidate from Amethi. Will Rahul Gandhi take up Smriti Irani’s challenge and contest from there?
There is a third Gandhi in the fray – Sanjay Gandhi’s son and their estranged cousin Feroze Varun, Though Feroze has denied the rumours there is speculation that he may contest from one of the two family bastions. Amethi is his late father’s constituency while Rae Bareli can be traced back to both his grand-parents, Feroze and Indira Gandhi. Certainly in the belt, young Feroze Varun’s could be a suitable candidate for those having a connect with the Gandhi-Nehru legacy but disillusioned with Rahul Gandhi. Both Feroze and Priyanka are fresh faces that could be fielded. While Feroze Varun is still with the BJP he has been pretty disillusioned with some of the decisions taken by the Modi government. Will he be given a ticket to contest by the BJP – or will he try his luck as an Independent, albeit supported by the Congress and its allies. He is currently the BJP MP from Pilibhit, a constituency nurtured by his mother Maneka Gandhi since 1989. It is from here that Feroze Varun made his debut in 2004 and currently represents this seat, while Maneka has shifted to Sultanpur. Both Maneka and Feroze Varun are still politically active and it would be interesting to see which party backs them in the next Lok Sabha for they do have a strong grass-root connect with their constituents.
Meanwhile the Samajwadi Party may have joined the Bharat Jodo Nyay yatra but its chief Akhilesh Yadav has very little expectations from the Congress and is looking to fight the election on his own party’s strength along with some strategic alliances. For though Rahul Gandhi has been taking up the cause of the caste census, it is the SP and the RJD that appeal more to the backward caste community than the Congress. In fact, Rahul playing the caste survey card did not have too many takers in the recently concluded state elections of MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh (2023).
With very little time left for the 2024 Lok Sabha, the month of March is going to be interesting both in terms of alliances and narratives as the opposition tries to put together a last minute campaign to take on Prime Minister Modi.