May 04, 2024 07:44 AM IST
In Rae Bareli, BJP faces tough challenge as Rahul Gandhi enters Lok Sabha race against Dinesh Pratap Singh. Modi-Yogi govt’s welfare schemes key focus.
In Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency, which the locals prefer to describe as “the VIP seat”, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing an uphill task in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, especially after the Congress fielded its most popular face and former party chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday.
Gandhi, who filed his nomination hours before the process was to end, is pitted against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh, a minister in the party-led Uttar Pradesh government, in the former’s family borough.
Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now!
At the BJP’s Atal Bhawan office, the plan to tackle Gandhi hinges on the performance of the “Modi-Yogi” double engine governments, a reference used by the ruling party to describe Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath-led government in the country’s most populous state.
“Those who give votes in Rae Bareli needs Modi’s guarantees. Common people need house, free cooking gas (connection) under Ujjwala. Earlier, only those with (late Congress MP and Gandhi family aide) Satish Sharma’s letter would get a gas connection,” Rakesh Bahadur Singh, who fought against Sonia Gandhi in 2009 on a BJP ticket, alleged.
“Modi and Yogi have constructed toilets in every house. Before the BJP came to power, villagers had to sell their gold and land to deposit money in hospital if someone in their family needed a surgery. Now Modi’s Ayushman Bharat allows them to get free treatment in hospitals.”
Ajay Tripathi, former BJP chief of Rae Bareli unit, argued that 20% of the voters are beneficiaries of different welfare schemes of the BJP government. “The Congress has not done anything for 60 years. How can they give ₹1 lakh to women heads of poor families (as mentioned in the Congress manifesto) when they have not been able to eradicate poverty from India?” he said. “Indira Gandhi was different. But Rahul is… only talking about caste politics…”
At a BJP camp on the way to the collector’s office, where Gandhi filed his nomination for the May 20 Lok Sabha polls, a group of BJP leaders and workers darted towards the former Congress chief’s black bullet-proof SUV as it was passing by, raising “Jai Shri Ram” and “Rahul Gandhi Amethi jao” slogans. Minutes later, a large crowd holding Congress and Samajwadi Party flags outnumbered them, raising counter slogans.
Pushpen Singh, who contested the 2022 UP elections on a BJP ticket, pointed out that in 2014, the BJP got 173,000 votes in Rae Bareli, but increased its vote tally to 367,000 in 2019. “The situation is changing. Between 2019 and 2024, Sonia Gandhi didn’t even come here. Earlier, the Congress had MLCs, zila parishad members, but now they have lost everything,” he said. But these electoral equations are met with strong emotional connect for the Gandhi family.
“People of Amethi want Gandhi family to fight from here. The attachment is deep and it is not just an emotional bond,” said Congress’ district head Pankaj Tiwari.
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies.
