After RLD snapped ties with the SP, Pallavi Patel, Swami Prasad Maurya are beyond any attempts to be pacified over their annoyance with Akhilesh Yadav. Whispers in the corridors of power that a new equation taking shape in Uttar Pradesh, with the Congress, BSP, Apna Dal (Kamerwadi) and Swami Prasad Maurya expected to come forward in an alliance to fight against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. According to sources, Congress leaders are in touch with Mayawati, Pallavi and Maurya, even though Mayawati had announced that her party would go it alone in the upcoming LS polls. The Congress believes that aligning with the BSP would help to consolidate the Dalit vote behind them, as well as ensure that the Muslim vote is not divided multiple ways. Political analysts believe that any possible coming together of BSP, Apna Dal (Kamerwadi) Maurya and Congress is expected to throw up new political arrangements ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
CONGRESS, AAP DELHI SEAT-SHARING GOES AWRY
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has given indication that it is not looking forward to any alliance with the Congress either in Delhi or Punjab. While both the parties agreed to fight separately in Punjab, a four-three deal was on the cards in Delhi. But the AAP countered it by saying the Congress didn’t have any strength in Delhi and one seat should be good enough. The Congress is not going to settle for one seat and the division of anti-BJP votes now appears unavoidable. Congress treasurer Ajay Maken, a close Rahul Gandhi aide, was arguably the strongest Congress candidate for the Lok Sabha from the INDIA bloc, which is already beleaguered by the desertion of JD(U) and RLD as well as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s announcement that her party will fight all 42 seats in West Bengal. Rahul is learnt to have told Kejriwal that the discussions should continue and both sides need to be accommodative.
AS NITISH WINS FLOOR TEST, TEJASHVI FLOORS ALL WITH PASSIONATE SPEECH
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s National Democratic Alliance government might have won the floor test in the state Legislative Assembly but Tejashwi Yadav has, successively, won hearts. With a smile on his face, Tejashwi began his speech by saying, “Aap (Nitish) meray aadarniya thay, aadarniyan hain aur aadarniya rahengen (I respected you, respect you and will keep on respecting you).” “You dubbed me ‘beta (son)’. I honored you as an elder of the larger ‘Samajvadi parivar’ and was obedient to you. But you have acted like king Dasratha who exiled his son Ram to the jungle under Kaikeyi’s pressure. I take it as an opportunity to go among the people and struggle for their rights. I will continue my battle against the dictatorial and anti-democratic forces the way my father (Lalu Prasad Yadav) did,” Tejashwi said. Looking at BJP MLAs, the RJD leader said they always make big claims about ‘Modi ki guarantee’, can Prime Minister Narendra Modi guarantee that Nitishji will not make another U-turn, Tejashwi said sarcastically .
BJP DEPLOYSMP CM MOHAN YADAV TO WOO UP’S YADAV STRONGHOLD
Ahead of Parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in April-May this year, the BJP has decided to deploy Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in the ‘Yadav’-dominated Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. As part of the saffron party’s outreach to the ‘Yadav’ community, the MP CM held a meeting with BJP functionaries in Azamgarh, a Samajwadi Party stronghold formerly represented by party chief Akhilesh Yadav in the Lok Sabha before he resigned from the seat and opted to enter the UP assembly. While Mohan Yadav will be visiting other Yadav-dominated Lok Sabha constituencies such as Mainpuri, Firozabad, Kannauj and Farrukhabad. His plan is inclusive of holding meetings there with the aim to woo voters from the Yadav community. However the BJP leadership in the state believes that deploying Mohan Yadav in the Yadav-dominated seats in UP could potentially put down the strength of the traditional SP vote bank.
RAHUL SAYS CONGRESS PROMISES MSP TO FARMERS
Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress would give a legal guarantee to every farmer that they would receive the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops as per the Swaminathan Commission, if the grand old party comes to power. Although the Congress was planning the promise of MSP to be part of its election manifesto. Addressing a Congress workers’ convention at Ambikpur in Chhattisgarh, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi said the party’s government would accept all the demands of the farmers, apart from a law guaranteeing MSP. Expressing distress and shock at the Narendra Modi government’s “betrayal and repression”, they said the Swaminathan committee recommendations would be implemented in full. While the protesting farmers want a law that guarantees MSP on every crop. However, global prices, pressure on the government for procurement, export competitiveness and central expenditure are some of the reasons why the BJP-led government is hesitating in agreeing to the needs of the farmers. Apart from MSP, farmers are demanding the passage of Swaminathan’s report. One of the main recommendations of the committee was to increase MSP to at least 50 per cent above the weighted average cost of production.
SP FACES CRACKS IN ITS ALLIANCE OVER RAJYA SABHA NOMINATIONS
The cracks have widened between Samajwadi Party (SP) and its ally Apna Dal (Kamerwadi) much after the SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya announced he’s quitting from the post of party’s national general secretary, as Pallavi Patel said she would oppose SP’s Rajya Sabha nominees. Pallavi questioned the absence of PDA (pichhda, Dalit and alpsankhyak) among the Samajwadi Party’s Rajya Sabha nominees. “Where is PDA in Bachchan and Ranjan?” she said.. SP announced the candidature of former MP Ram Ji Lal Suman, retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Alok Ranjan, and renominated Jaya Bachchan to the Rajya Sabha for the three seats of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the SP with 108 members can easily make sure that three of its members sail through in the Rajya Sabha polls. (IPA Service)