After the Congress faced a shock loss in Haryana assembly polls and performed poorly on its own in Jammu and Kashmir elections, the discussions in the Congress for seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh by polls were managed by Avinash Pandey and Ajay Rai. The Congress is demanding 3 out of 9 seats but SP is not keen to give more than 2 seats such as Ghaziabad and Khair seats to save the relationship. Both parties are competing for Muslim and Dalit voters, particularly in seats like Phulpur, Meerapur and Majhawan. The numbers were not all that far apart but the problem was in the choice of seats. While leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav spoke twice to sort out the differences but the conversation ended with no result. Avinash Pandey called the SP leaders and told them that the party had decided not to contest at all and would support the nominees of the INDIA Bloc including the SP. The outcome of these by-polls could shape the political landscape ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.
CONGRESS NOT TIEING UP WITH LEFT FRONT IN BENGAL IS A SIGNAL TO TRINAMOOL
The Congress and the Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), have fielded different candidates for the byelections in six Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, signalling that the long-standing electoral understanding between the two in the State may have come to a halt. This reflection has come after the change in leadership of the state unit—replacing Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a vocal critic of Mamata Banerjee, with Subhankar Sarkar, Congress doesn’t want to be seen as too antagonistic to TMC. The Congress’s past tie-ups with the Left have annoyed CM Mamata Banerjee whose Trinamool Congress (TMC), also an INDIA bloc constituent, had refused to enter into a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal. The six constituencies going to the polls on November 13 are Naihati, Haroa, Midnapore, Sitai (SC), Madarihat (ST), and Taldangra. The Trinamool Congress had won five of the seats in the 2021 Assembly election, while the BJP won Madarihat in north Bengal. The byelections were necessitated after the MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
SAMAJWADI PARTY GIVING HOARDINGS DECLARING AKHILESH YADAV AS RULER IN 2027
The Lok Sabha election results in Uttar Pradesh has marked a dramatic change in the state’s political fabric, with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party springing up a surprise and making substantial electoral gains against the all powerful BJP. Samajwadi Party had succeeded in breaking the social engineering of BJP through the PDA (Backward-Dalit-Minority) formula and won 37 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats – making its best ever performance in the state and now the hoarding has come up near the party office in Lucknow with the message, ‘Ruler of Powers’, written on it alongside a giant image of the SP chief. In the text on hoarding, Akhilesh Yadav is described as the leader of the 2027. Leaders of the Samajwadi Party, Sant Kabir Nagar Jairam Pandey, chose to reflect the veneration towards Akhilesh Yadav with the poster and with the birthday greetings for their beloved leader, Akhilesh Yadav, with a prediction of his ascent to power in 2027.
BABA SIDDIQUE’S ASSASSINATION PUTS AJIT PAWAR ON BACK FOOT BEFORE POLLS
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will contest the Assembly elections in Baramati and face a challenge from his nephew Yugendra Pawar of the NCP (SP) in the second political fight within the family to prove their hold on the Pawar fiefdom. The NCP (SP) has been promoting Yugendra Pawar in the Baramati Assembly segment since the Lok Sabha elections, where he played a major role in the election campaign of Supriya Sule and managed to ensure a lead of over 48,000 votes for her against his aunt Sunetra. While the Mahayuti alliance’s complete seat-sharing arrangement is yet to be officially announced, the NCP faction is expected to contest 52-54 seats. Other key candidates include Chhagan Bhujbal, who will contest from Yeola, and Dilip Walse Patil from Ambegaon. However, Ajit Pawar had taken Baba Siddique and others under his wings hoping to cut into some of the Congress’ votes in the Siddiques’ Mumbai stronghold. But, with the Muslim leader’s sudden death, Maharashtra’s politics has taken an unexpected turn. Siddique’s former Congress colleagues are crying foul more fiercely than Ajit Pawar. Clearly, Ajit Pawar has been put on a weak footing following Siddique’s assassination. His helplessness shows that Maharashtra politics is once again veering towards the old game of sharpening of polarisation on communal lines.
PUNJAB BJP PRESIDENT SUNIL JAKHAR IS BACK IN POLITICAL ACTION BEFORE BY POLLS
The Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar who was missing from political action for two months is back now as the poster boy of the saffron party for the upcoming assembly by-elections on four seats in the state. The party released the first campaign video in which Sunil Jakhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were seen in different shots with party workers and supporters. The tagline of the 28-second video is “Baaki Gallan Chhado, Punjab Do Gal Zaroori Ha’’. (IPA Service)
Madhya Pradesh BJP’s Infighting Heats Up Over Budhni Assembly Bypoll Nominee 