Results of the recently held assembly elections of five states showed that the people are against BJP or in favour of BJP alliance in the states. Now the people are divided between the slogans of Modi Hatao Desh Bachao or Aayega To Modi Hi. While the Uttar Pradesh assembly election in 2022 is the semi final before the final of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as Uttar Pradesh is a crucial state and plays an important role in Lok Sabha polls. It is presumed that the Indian electorate always votes the same way. With the health system performing badly and people feeling upset with the entire arrangement amid the corona crisis, the going seems to be tough for BJP. The party will assess a candidate to hold on the ground before giving out tickets for the 2022 UP assembly elections. The performance of the incumbent legislators, too, will be assessed, sources said. The BJP might not field the sitting MLAs on almost 50% of the seats in case of poor performance. The government’s weak strategy to deal with the second wave of corona and West Bengal elections despite outbreak of pandemic are the two major reasons for people’s anger.PM Modi is aware that all is not well with the UP BJP and government. CM Yogi Adityanath is trying to tackle dissent in his own party. With this in view, PM Modi may shift some leaders from UP to take over significant responsibility at the Centre. It is clear that the BJP will fight elections in UP under Yogi’s leadership. BJP will try to benefit from the multi-angular contest in UP. While Samajwadi Party, BSP, Congress and AAP will be fighting the elections in UP, unlike Bengal, the Opposition is not going to be united in UP. According to political observers, SP is the main rival of BJP as of now ahead of BSP and Congress. SP is likely to form alliance with smaller parties like RLD, Peace Party and Apna Dal. BJP will play the Hindutva card on the basis of Ram Mandir to counter caste politics of SP and other parties. Congress is likely to go it alone in UP and according to political observers, If Congress projects Priyanka as the CM candidate it may consolidate its vote bank of Dalit, Muslim, Brahmin and Jats, who are now unhappy with the BJP government. They might shift to Congress as an alternative of BJP. Priyanka has been quite vocal on social media against the Yogi Adityanath-led government. BSP is not what it used to be. Corona is also going to be a big issue and will have a direct political impact in UP.
RSS LAUNCHES FIRE FIGHTING TO SAVE MODI, YOGI
After the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat elections and ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next year, top BJP and RSS leaders met to devise a strategy to counter the growing perception against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the handling of the second Covid wave. PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were present at the meeting between the BJP and the RSS to discuss the impact of the ongoing Covid crisis on the election in UP next year and the strategy that will be adopted by the party to strengthen its position in the state. BJP president JP Nadda, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale and UP general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal were present too. The BJP seems to have switched on the damage control mode after the setback it faced in key seats in the panchayat election. A possible expansion in the state Cabinet and a role for former IAS officer Arvind Sharma are also learnt to have been discussed.
SHADOW BOXING BY PRADHAN AND PATNAIK
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union minister Dharmindra Pradhan appear to be engaged in an aggressive battle to claim credit for Odisha not only meeting its own medical oxygen needs but also the ability to supply it to other states. Soon after the Chief Minister shared news and picture of Odisha supplying oxygen to needy states, Pradhan who holds the petroleum and natural gas portfolio, started posting about medical oxygen being sent to other states from the SAIL-run Rourkela steel plant. He even hit back at the Patnaik government when it criticized the Centre for inadequate supply of vaccine.
PRIYANKA’S QUESTIONS TO MODI GOVT
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has asked the government about the shortage of vaccines in her series of “Jimmedar Kaun” (who is responsible) posts. She has asked three specific questions for the government on her Facebook page — “when the Prime Minister is saying that they were ready with the plan of vaccination, then why did the government only order 1.60 crore vaccines and why did the government export vaccines at the cost of Indians, and when India is the largest manufacturer of the vaccine, why did it have to import?” She said these are the questions which people of India are asking from the government. When all the countries were placing orders for vaccines, the PM did not place for us and even exported 6.5 crore vaccines. She said that during second wave of pandemic, when country was devastated and the people were struggling for medicines, beds and oxygen, the government was in mute mode.
IS BJP WARMING UP TO VIRBHADRA SINGH?
Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh (86) was admitted to cardiac care unit (CCU) at Indira Gandhi Medical College at Shimla, after being flown in from Chandigarh where he was undergoing COVID-19 treatment at a private hospital in Mohali. He was brought from Chandigarh in the state government helicopter and driven straight to IGMC, where he has been admitted to CCU. Soon after Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur along with his three ministers went to IGMC to inquire about the health of Virbhadra and wish him speedy recovery and he also directed his ministers to look after him. Evidently, the political leaders of Congress as well as the BJP leaders in the state are discussing a new born relationship between Virbhadra and Jai Ram Thakur, which will have a great impact on the political scenario of Himachal Pradesh. (IPA)
