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Sonia show on Modi turf has BJP worried
NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi is taking the Congress’ battle to the Prime Minister’s constituency Varanasi, putting the BJP in a spot of bother ahead of crucial assembly
NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi is taking the Congress’ battle to the Prime Minister’s constituency Varanasi, putting the BJP in a spot of bother ahead of crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh early next year.
The Congress president is scheduled to attend a road show and take part in Ganga ‘aarti’ in Varanasi on Tuesday in what is being seen as a calculated move to pit herself against Modi, the first time in many years a member of the party’s first family is challenging a BJP prime minister on his turf.
UP is crucial for Congress as a good show will give the party the conviction of staging spirited fights in other states going to the polls next year.
The ruling party at the Centre might be dismissive in public about the Congress’ UP plans, but it is carefully studying the move which Congress poll strategists say would enthuse the demoralised Congress rank and file.
The BJP already finds itself cornered after the Congress declared Sheila Dikshit, a Brahmin, the chief ministerial candidate.
Secondly, say Congress leaders, launching the campaign from the temple city would send the “right message” to Brahmins, who voted overwhelmingly for Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. And this is what has BJP worried.
“(The) Congress has altered our poll plans by projecting a Brahmin as their CM candidate. We cannot afford to be seen engaging with the Congress. Sonia is aiming for that. Much depends on the success of her road show,” a BJP office bearer in Delhi told HT.
UP BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak dismissed the Congress as the ‘B’ team of ruling Samajwadi Party in the state. “They would unite in the name of stopping communal forces. Their target is Modi. People should realise this,” he said. But BJP fears a Congress revival in UP, even to a limited extent, would make it a four-cornered contest.
