Lucknow. Congress, one of the largest political parties of the country, which is facing exile of power in Uttar Pradesh for nearly three decades, is not liking the new colour. Congress’s reins in Uttar Pradesh are now in the hands of party’s national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s campaign to contest 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh without any party alliance has started getting a setback. Here, those who have been declared candidates by the party, the same people are leaving the party and joining other parties. Although the old Congress and MLAs had started leaving the party after Priyanka Gandhi became the in-charge of the state, but for the elections, three candidates of the party leaving the party is going to make a big difference.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the national general secretary of the All India Congress Committee and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, has tried to bring the party in a new color in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. In this sequence, he has also reserved 40 percent of the 403 seats for women. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has expressed more confidence in the youth, has got her own setback. In the election campaign, veteran Congress leaders are breaking the trust of Priyanka Gandhi and joining other parties.
Even before the announcement of elections in Uttar Pradesh, many MLAs and members of the Legislative Council left the Congress and joined the BJP and the Samajwadi Party. After the announcement of the election date, their number started increasing. The biggest setback to the Congress was when three of their declared candidates switched over to another party. Now the Uttar Pradesh election road is becoming more difficult for Priyanka Gandhi.
After Rae Bareli and Amethi, Rampur is also considered a big stronghold of Congress. Priyanka Gandhi had declared Khan Yusuf Ali from Chamraua assembly seat here and Haider Ali Khan alias Hamza Mian from Swar-Tanda as the party’s candidate. Of these, Khan Yusuf Ali had joined the Samajwadi Party, when he did not get a ticket from the Samajwadi Party, then joined the Congress. Haider Ali Khan aka Hamza Miya from Swar-Tanda belongs to the Nawab family. After getting the ticket, he also left the party. Hamza Mian has joined Apna Dal(S). Apna Dal has also declared him as the candidate. Apart from these two, Congress candidate Supriya Aron, declared from Bareilly Cantt seat, has also left the party. Her husband Praveen Singh Eron used to be a Congress MP from Bareilly and Supriya Eron also became Mayor twice from Bareilly on Congress ticket. This family was also an old Congress family, now these people have joined the Samajwadi Party. Samajwadi Party has also declared Supriya Aron as its candidate from Bareilly Cantt.
All the three leaders who left the Congress come from Rohilkhand and have a strong hold in their area. Congress’s declared candidate from Chamraua seat of Rampur Khan Yusuf Ali had joined the SP, but Akhilesh did not give him a ticket. He is in Congress again. Ticket not finalized yet. Congress veteran and former MP Praveen Singh Aron, who raised the Congress flag in Bareilly for nearly two decades, left the Congress. Along with him, his wife Supriya Aron joined the Samajwadi Party in the presence of SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav. Supriya Aron was declared Congress candidate by Priyanka Gandhi from Bareilly Cantt, but after riding a bicycle, SP has given her a ticket from this seat. Praveen Airan has been an MP from Bareilly, while Supriya Airan has been the Mayor of Bareilly.
Haider Ali Khan alias Hamza Mian, who quit Congress even after getting ticket from Rampur’s Swar-Tand, is the grandson of former Begum Nurbans from Rampur and son of former minister Nawab Kazim Ali Khan alias Naved Mian. Kazim Ali is Congress candidate from Rampur assembly seat and is contesting against Azam Khan.
Four out of seven Congress MLAs have left the party. Three have joined the BJP while one has joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal. Aditi Singh, MLA from Rae Bareli and Rakesh Singh, MLA from Harchandpur in the same district, were in revolt for a long time. Apart from these, MLA from Behat in Saharanpur Naresh Saini has joined BJP. The MLA from Saharanpur Dehat, Masood Akhtar, belongs to Imran Masood. He has support for Samajwadi Party. Veteran Congress leader in western UP and former MP Harendra Malik, who is considered the face of the Jat community, and his son former MLA Pankaj Malik also left the Congress and joined the SP. Laliteshpati Tripathi, who was close to Priyanka Gandhi, had also got the green signal to contest the elections, but joined the TMC after saying goodbye to the Congress.
From Imran Masood to many big leaders left the Congress even before the date of the assembly elections was announced. They feel that the Congress party has no power at the moment. Poster Girl Lucknow’s Dr. Priyanka Maurya has also left the party and joined BJP by making serious allegations. All the Congress leaders on whose strength Priyanka Gandhi was trying to strengthen the party in Bundelkhand have left the party. Former MLA and member of Priyanka’s advisory committee Vinod Chaturvedi, former MLA Gayadin Anuragi, Manoj Tiwari of Mahoba’s old Congress family also joined the SP. The Congress had made preparations to field all these three leaders in the electoral fray. Similarly, former MP Rajaram Pal, who is considered a strong face of Congress in Kanpur countryside, has also left the party and rode on a bicycle. Jitin Prasada, who was a Union Minister in the Congress government, joined the BJP. Former Union Minister and Badaun MP Salim Sherwani, former Unnao MP Annu Tandon, former Mirzapur MP Bal Kumar Patel, Sitapur MP Kaiser Jahan, Aligarh MP Vijender Singh, former Minister Chaudhary Liaquat, former MLA Ram Singh Patel Leaders like former MLA Jasmin Ansari, Ankit Parihar and Sonbhadra’s Ramesh Rahi have left the Congress.
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