Aam Aadmi Party has commenced their campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the 2022 assembly elections with slogans of Ram Rajya and nationalism. The announcement of the free pilgrimage plan to Ayodhya came soon after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s own visit to the temple town. After offering prayers at the Ram Temple site on 26 October, Kejriwal had vowed to increase the strength of pilgrims to the place of worship, and also confirmed that he had made a donation for the temple. Moreover, Kejriwal and his Delhi cabinet colleagues celebrated Diwali with a grand puja at the city’s Thyagaraj Stadium. The ceremony featured a pandal that was a replica of the Ram Temple being built in Ayodhya. For days leading up to Diwali, the Delhi CM advertised the puja, informing the city’s residents that it will be telecast live, and encouraging them to join in from their homes. The advertisement on FM channels ended with Kejriwal chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. On the one hand, it reflects that the party has chosen the Ram Temple strategy to ease its entry into the communally-charged Uttar Pradesh (UP), where religious sentiments run high and where the party will contest all 403 assembly seats for the first time early next year. On the other hand, if UP were to vote on the basis of religion, it seems unlikely that it would vote for a new entrant outsider state party like the AAP, instead of the deeply entrenched Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to political observers of Lucknow, the AAP is creating confusion in the minds of BJP supporters who support nationalism and Hindutva.
AFTER RJD LOSS IN BIHAR BYPOLLS, AILING LALU BACK IN DELHI
After Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) lost the by-polls for the two assembly seats to the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad claimed that he was ill, so went back to Delhi with his wife Rabri Devi and daughter Misa Bharati. Lalu had come to Patna after a gap of over three years and had planned to stay till the festive season of Deepawali and Chhat. His family sources at 10, Circular Road claimed that he had to return immediately as he developed health problems. His elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav alleged that three leaders — namely, state RJD president, Jagadanand Singh; national vice president, Shivanand Tiwari; and Tejashwi Yadav had forced Lalu to physically campaign in the by-elections ignoring the poor health of his father. While NDA leaders even went on to taunt that he actually helped the ruling JD(U), as his physical presence in a poll campaign after six years brought back memories of jungle raj among voters.
PRIYANKA URGES CM GEHLOT TO EXPAND CABINET, ACCOMMODATE PILOT
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Interacted with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on 11 November, reiterating that he would expand his cabinet to end a feud with rival Sachin Pilot in a month. On Wednesday, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a meeting with Ashok Gehlot at Rahul Gandhi’s residence in Delhi. The meeting was presided over by Congress general secretary (organisation), KC Venugopal, and the party’s Rajasthan in-charge, Ajay Maken. According to sources, Rahul Gandhi did not attend the meeting despite it being held at his home. The leaders apparently discussed issues of a cabinet reshuffle in Rajasthan and urged CM Gehlot to accommodate Sachin Pilot’s supporters in his ministry. Ashok Gehlot’s meeting with Sonia Gandhi was on “expanding the Rajasthan cabinet and appointing chairman of state corporations and restructuring of the state Congress”. “The party high command will decide on the cabinet reshuffle in Rajasthan. Ajay Maken has all the information about it. We want good governance to continue in the state,” Ashok Gehlot told reporters after the meeting. The Congress high command is keen that the Cabinet reshuffle takes place immediately and some of Pilot’s supporters are accommodated. Last month, Sachin Pilot had met senior leader Rahul Gandhi and discussed the much-delayed expansion. While Maken has made numerous visits to Rajasthan in recent months, the reshuffle is yet to happen.
CONGRESS PLANS NATIONWIDE AGITATION EVOKING GANDHI’S DANDI MARCH
The Congress will initiate a nationwide “Jan Jagran Abhiyan” as well as a number of padyatras, nightstays at villages and “prabhat pheris” from November 14-29 in order to showcase the anti-poor policies of the Centre, including price rise, unemployment, among other issues. The Congress has asked party MPs and MLAs to reach out to the public at ward and panchayat levels. “The people of the country are having a severe and miserable way of life due to policies of the PM Modi led government. In the last two years, we are witnessing a terrible, price rise of petrol, diesel and edible oil. INC, under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, is fighting against this government,” Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said at a press conference. Seeking inspiration from the Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi, the logo of the agitation programme would depict the historic protest against the salt tax. Congress leader Digvijay Singh said: “Logo for the Padyatra to be held by Congress will depict the Dandi March. Mahatma Gandhi led the march against tax on Salt which had affected the house hold. Today, the increase in the price of LPG cylinder has hit every household.” The Congress will also hold a training camp being organised for state-level trainers from November 12 to 15 November at Sevagram, Wardha, Maharashtra. The state-level trainers will then conduct a training programme at parliament, assembly and sector levels.
DALIT ICON CHANDRASEKHAR AZAD ‘RAVAN’ VOWS TO TAKE ON YOGI
In a significant development in Uttar Pradesh, Dalit leader and Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad Ravan has announced that he would contest against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath from whichever constituency the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader chooses to fight in the upcoming assembly elections next year in the state. Aazad said, “It is not important for me to win a place in the UP assembly. It is important for me that Yogi Adityanath should not get to be in the assembly. So I will contest wherever he is contesting.” It is not clear yet from which assembly segment Yogi Adityanath will contest. At present, he is a member of the legislative council, but not of the legislative assembly. Aazad said that the party would field Dalits, Muslims or backward caste candidates wherever it can, provided his Azad Samaj Party contests the election on its own. (IPA)
What Xi Consolidation Means To The Rest Of The World 