Samikhsya Bureau
Priyanka Gandhi has made it clear that she is not interested to fight the elections now, thus sending clear indications that her goalpost is different. Which she does not, perhaps, want to get blown by the individual pursuits and rather than consolidating the party’s position in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.
The realisation must have dawned upon her that her entry into active politics has not only created a new euphoria among the workers but she cannot mentally distance from the reality that, with that pressure she is under, she cannot narrow down her political ambit within a seat in Parliament.
The media blaze created post her entry as general secretary in-charge of parts of Uttar Pradesh is a moral baggage she now carries to confront the four and a half year old National Democratic Alliance regime, which readies to fight a battle of do or die.
Gandhi who has turned out to be a big task master since she has been convened to the party rank feels that the Congress should stand on its own feet in the state.
The leaders of the Lok Sabha constituencies meeting her have strongly opposed any alliances in the Lok Sabha elections and some even showed their annoyance on the proposed partnership with the Mahan Dal.
But interestingly, all the leaders have proposed Gandhi to contest the Lok Sabha polls and even named some of the seats like Fatehpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and even Varanasi. But she had refused all saying that if she contested the polls then her attention on other seats would be diverted.
A senior Congress leader, who was part of the Gorakhpur delegation, which met her on late Wednesday night, said on Thursday that they have suggested that the party should have no alliances and turncoats should be avoided in giving ticket this time.
However, the leader said that they have opposed on the proposed alliance with Mahan Dal as it would not serve any purpose. ” In 2014 too, Congress gave five seats to Mahan Dal, but it did not turned fruitful,” he said while also placed his point before Gandhi that Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party was groomed by the Congress but later he joined the BJP when its popularity grew in eastern UP.
The leader also urged her to contest from Lucknow Lok Sabha seat against home minister Rajnath Singh, as it will send a message to the voters and it will have impact on the seats like Gorakhpur and Varanasi. “All leaders are inviting me to contest from their area but I have big task before me to complete,” she said.
While talking to the leaders from different Lok Sabha seats, she informed them that, “Rahul had been asking me to take over responsibility of UP since 2015. I kept on denying. Now I have gathered strength to accept the challenge”.
She also said, “My moving alone and waving at crowds will not covert into votes. You all need to have a robust organisation to convert it in votes.”
She further said even moving through the districts will not ensure votes. “Build organisation to capitalise on momentum,” she said.
The AICC general secretary said focus on booth level team should be important as booth committees is crucial for wining elections. She also expressed annoyance over the big state committee. “Here in UP you have jumbo sized organisation structure. It’s like UNO. It needs to be streamlined/ made more efficient so that responsibilities can directly be accounted for,” she commented.
She suggested the senior leaders that whereever they wanted to contest, they must focus on building the organsiation.
(With agency inputs)
