Political Delicacies: Rahul, Kharge Visit Poll-Bound J&K

RAHUL, KHARGE VISIT POLL-BOUND J&K, BOLSTER ALLIANCE WITH NC

With the Assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir approaching, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge, on Thursday, paid a visit to the residence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Omar Abdullah, where the Congress-NC alliance has been finalized on all 90 seats in the Union territory. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said the Congress and the NC are together and the CPM is also with the alliance. “Tarigami sahab (CPM’s MY Tarigami) is also with us. I hope that our people are with us so that we can win and do better for the people.” However, the NC seems to have rebuffed Rahul Gandhi’s desire for a wider alliance that includes Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP. Although the two parties have sealed the alliance, sources said, the challenges on the seat-sharing front remain. Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP is part of the INDIA bloc but was not included in the alliance for the Lok Sabha polls after the NC leaders shot down the proposal. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi favoured restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and said it was the first time in history that a state had been reduced to a UT. “We hope statehood will be restored as soon as possible,” he said.

BSP RALLIES BEHIND BHARAT BANDH, BRACES FOR UP BYPOLLS

Ahead of assembly by-polls in ten seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) marched the streets in support of the Bharat Bandh on the reservation issue. BSP supremo Mayawati is trying to revive the basics and redraw the party’s bahujan strategy. She has lumped the entire opposition in the same bracket, saying that people are annoyed with the conspiracies of the SP, Congress and BJP which are trying to make reservation ineffective and ultimately to end it. BSP has decided to go solo in the by-polls and is trying to consolidate the nearly 21 per cent Dalit vote, 12 per cent of this being Jatav, which is Mayawati’s caste. By winning seats in the assembly by-polls, the BSP aims to mark a comeback in state politics.

OUT ON BAIL, SISODIA RE-ENERGISES AAP AHEAD OF FEB 2025 POLLS

Ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls due in February 2025, AAP has formulated a new slogan which goes as follows: ‘Sisodia aa gaye hai, Kejriwal aayenge’, [Sisodia is back, so will Kejriwal]. Meanwhile, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia as part of his padyatra campaign met people of his Patparganj constituency and alleged that the BJP’s conspiracy to keep him in jail till the Delhi Assembly polls failed due to the blessings of Lord Hanuman. Sisodia communicated with local shopkeepers and rickshaw pullers and collected their feedback while walking through the streets. He was greeted by the people who hugged him and took selfies. The former deputy chief minister expressed his commitment to improving education, healthcare, and public transport in Delhi. He stated that contesting elections is necessary to achieve these goals for the city’s residents.

AKHILESH, CM YOGI HIT OUT AT EACH OTHER BEFORE UP BYPOLLS

Before the upcoming assembly by-polls in ten seats in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav is preparing to spread the message of his PDA plank in the state. Yadav has criticized the NDA government over its withdrawal of the latest advertisement for lateral entry into bureaucracy, saying it is a part of BJP’s conspiracy to deprive “PDA” (picchde, Dalit, alpsankhyak) of reservation benefits. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too has blasted Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav over his ‘PDA’ slogan, accusing him of disrespecting OBC leader and former CM Kalyan Singh. Speaking at the ‘Hindu Gaurav Divas’ event on Singh’s third death anniversary, Adityanath condemned Yadav for not paying tributes to Singh. However, PDA stands for backward classes, Dalits, and minorities who had voted in favour of the SP in Lok Sabha polls helping the party secure 37 seats in UP. Akhilesh has prominently emerged on the national political stage by halting the BJP’s victory march in Uttar Pradesh. The setback in Uttar Pradesh, where the seat tally declined from 62 in the 2019 Lok Sabha election to 33 in the 2024 parliamentary election, refrained the BJP from gaining a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha.

EYE ON HARYANA ASSEMBLY POLLS, CONGRESS RAISES PHOGAT ISSUE

The political temperature has been soaring high in Haryana with the Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat reaching Delhi from Paris. She was flanked by fellow wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Sakshee Malik, and Congress MP Deepender Hooda. Hooda led a massive roadshow from the New Delhi airport to Haryana to welcome Olympian Vinesh Phogat. The move is part of a larger strategy the Congress has zeroed in on to corner the BJP ahead of the October 1 assembly elections in Haryana. Earlier, leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra, and various Haryana Congress leaders demanded justice for Phogat. By highlighting the issue, Congress aspires to consolidate the Jats and women vote bank in Haryana. The Congress is also likely to target the BJP on is the farmers’ demand for a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP). Even as the state government recently announced the procurement of all 24 crops on MSP. Meanwhile, the Haryana Government has announced that Vinesh Phogat shall be treated like an Olympic silver medallist even though the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed her appeal for a joint-silver medal in the 50-kg freestyle wrestling category of the Paris Olympics.

MIFFED CHAMPAI SOREN SWEARS COMEBACK, MAY FLOAT NEW PARTY

The 67-year-old former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren, who was once the most trusted aide of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren and had earned the sobriquet of Jharkhand’s Tiger for his contribution to statehood fight, is on his way out of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) after alleging insult and humiliation by the party. Champai Soren is adamant that he would not retire from politics and is ready to chart a new path, either by forming an organisation or by joining hands with any “good friend (ally)” who comes along the way. According to sources, he may float a new party and would later talk to the BJP for alliance for the upcoming assembly elections in the state. The buzz is that the BJP would want to use Champai to counter Hemant Soren, but Champai does not have a huge mass following in the state. However, he is a seven-time MLA representing the Saraikela constituency in assembly and a very popular leader in the region. (IPA Service)