LUCKNOW The Congress touched a new low in Uttar Pradesh, winning only two seats and failing to open its account in Rae Bareli and Amethi region of the state.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ from Rampur Khas in Pratapgarh and Virendra Chaudhra from Pharenda in Maharajganj were the only two leaders who emerged victorious for the Congress in UP.
The Congress had seven seats in the outgoing 17th state assembly. It also had MLAs in Rae Bareli and Harchandpur segment of Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha seat of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats were considered to be the bastion of Congress till 2019 when senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi to union minister Smriti Irani.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s road shows and public meetings had been drawing large crowds raising hopes of partymen this poll season. She had probably sensed the poll outcome while addressing a public meeting in Ghazipur before campaigning ended on March 5, 2022.
“Uttar Pradesh is the land of my ancestors. Their blood is there in this land. I will continue to fight for you till a new way of politics of truth begins from here,” she said while committing herself to work in Uttar Pradesh, irrespective of the election results.
“The Congress needs to introspect. It should appoint a state-specific committee to look into factors for the prevailing state of affairs. Moreover, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should remain as active in the state as she has been in 2022 assembly elections,” said Prof SK Dwivedi, former head of department, political science, Lucknow University.
{{/usCountry}}“The Congress needs to introspect. It should appoint a state-specific committee to look into factors for the prevailing state of affairs. Moreover, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should remain as active in the state as she has been in 2022 assembly elections,” said Prof SK Dwivedi, former head of department, political science, Lucknow University.
{{/usCountry}}A close scrutiny of the poll results in Rae Bareli and Amethi indicated a direct fight between the BJP and the SP candidates on most of the seats. Congress candidates remained on second place in Bachhrawan and Jagdishpur only. In Amethi, Samajwadi Party’s Maharaji Prajapati won. BJP’s Suresh Kumar defeated the Congress’ Vijay Kumar Pasi in Jagdishpur. SP’s Rakesh Pratap Singh was victorious in Gauriganj and BJP’s Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh won in Tiloi. BJP’s Ashok Kumar won against SP’s Jagdish Prasad by a narrow margin in Salon.
In Rae Bareli, Aditi Singh, who left the Congress to join the BJP before polls, won against Ram Pratap Yadav of the Samajwadi Party. Manish Chauhan of the Congress remained a distant third. SP’s Rahul Rajput was victorious in Harchandpur, Rae Bareli, defeating BJP’s Rakesh Singh, who had left the Congress to join the saffron party.
In Bachhrawan, Shyam Sunder of the Samajwadi Party was declared elected against Apna Dal’s (Soneylal) Laxmikant. Congress’ Sushil Kumar Pasi was at third place securing over 55,000 votes. Devendra Pratap Singh of SP was victorious against BJP’s Dhirendra Bahadur Singh in Sareni. SP’s Manoj Kumar Pandey was declared elected against BJP’s Amarpal Maurya in Unchahar, Rae Bareli.