By Rahil Nora Chopra
After poll routs in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and poor performance in the assembly elections of Bihar, the voices for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have grown stronger. The rumbling heard within the party is “Rahul hatao, Priyanka laao”, publicly calling for a meaty central role for Priyanka. This calling was led by senior Odisha leader Mohammed Moquim, who, in his letter to Sonia Gandhi, questioned the Congress leadership under Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, and has asked for a far bigger role for Priyanka. It must be noted that the Congress has subsequently expelled Mohammed Moquim from the party for anti-party activities. On the other hand, Saharanpur MP Imran Masood went a step further and asserted that the Wayanad MP would make for a great prime minister like the late former PM, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Masood, who is known to be close to Priyanka, made the remarks when he was asked about the Congress general secretary’s recent comment on the violence against Hindus in unrest-hit Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections proved to be a major setback for Priyanka. She was given charge of the state and ran an aggressive campaign. Consciously targeting women voters, she attracted large crowds, but failed to make an electoral impact. Riding on welfare-ism and Yogi Adityanath’s Hindutva popularity, the BJP swept the state. In fact, the Congress vote share in UP fell from 6.25 per cent to an abysmal 2.33 per cent, and its tally from seven seats to two. Since then, she has campaigned in Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, and Delhi, but her star power has consistently failed to translate into votes. This has led to the view that her charisma has been overhyped, and she will not be able to do any better than her brother. Meanwhile, the Bharat Jodo Yatra has presented the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi as a biggest popular leader and the main challenger to the RSS-BJP juggernaut led by PM Narendra Modi. Rahul’s personal stature has improved considerably and offers a humane, democratic and inclusive alternative to Modi’s unabashed Hindu majoritarianism. Rahul’s secular image in the public eye attract women, youth, the middle class and increased his popularity amongst EBC, OBC, Dalits and Muslims in the country. What is good for Rahul Gandhi, who is the visible face of the Congress, should help the party too. The Congress is in need of an awakening and revival after successive electoral blows at the centre and in the states as seen in desertions, infighting, factionalism and loss of power and stature. Now despite the pressure from below, party insiders say that the close bond between the siblings rules out the possibility of Priyanka carrying centre stage and Rahul will continue to lead the party from the front.
BRAHMIN LEGISLATORS’ MEET RATTLES BJP, AMID OPPOSITION CRITICISM
For a dinner in Lucknow at the residence of BJP MLA PN Pathak, a dozen of Brahmin BJP MLAs and MLCs marked their presence and discussed alleged ‘bias against the Brahmin community’. However, the party leadership on Thursday said the meeting was against the party’s constitution and values and cautioned that a repeat of such events in future would be taken as an instance of indiscipline. While the meeting created ripples in the political circles of Uttar Pradesh, the Opposition claimed that all was not well within the BJP. Uttar Pradesh has 52 Brahmin MLAs in the Assembly, of whom 46 belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Participants said the emphasis of the conference was to raise issues related to the Brahmin community more strongly. The dinner is being seen as a response to the “kutumb” (family get-together) held by Thakur MLAs in the previous session. Legislators from across regions, including Purvanchal and Bundelkhand, attended the dinner. The MLAs who attended, however, reiterated that it was a community interaction, rather than a political meeting. However, this Brahmin legislators’ meet has magnified the challenge for the BJP and the Yogi government.
WILL CM SIDDA’S ‘AHINDA’ POWER MOVE DAMPEN DEPUTY CM DK’S AMBITIONS?
The power tussle within the ruling Congress party in Karnataka refuses to die down.The planned AHINDA convention on 25 January, 2026 is threatening to open up yet another front between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, who have been long feuding over the leadership issue. The convention in Siddaramaiah’s hometown Mysuru is being showcased as a show of strength to enable the Chief Minister to complete the full five-year term and to mark a milestone that the Chief Minister will cross in the second week of January 2026. Siddaramaiah will become the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka, surpassing the late D. DevarajaUrs, who set the record in the 70s. It may be noted that in Ahinda, ‘A’ stands for minorities (alpasankyatharu), ‘HIND’ stands for OBCs (hindulidajaati), and ‘D’ stands for SCs and STs (Dalits). Insiders say the rallies have been organised just to convey a clear signal against any move to replace Siddaramaiah as CM.
BMC POLLS: CONG STILL SAYS NO TO RAJ IN MVA, LOOKS FOR OTHER OPTIONS
After Uddhav and Raj Thackeray joined hands for the forthcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) has initiated negotiations with the Congress for the BMC elections. Initially, Sharad Pawar was keen on keeping the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) open and wanted Raj Thackeray to be included in the alliance to take on the BJP in the BMC polls. However, the Congress leadership refused to take the MNS chief on board, citing the Marathi chauvinist’s earlier known anti–North Indian stance. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal held a meeting with OBC leader Mahadev Jankar, with both expressing a desire to tie up for the local body elections. Jankar leads the Dhangar shepherd community, which has a prominent presence across Maharashtra in terms of size and is considered decisive in western Maharashtra and parts of the Marathwada region. (IPA Service)
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