Battle for Wayanad: Unlikely candidates vs heavyweights
The Communist Party of India (CPI) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates squaring off with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency may not be half as sanguine about their prospects as Sonu Singh Yadav, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district who has entered the fray as well.
Yadav, who aspires to become the Prime Minister of India one day, recently refused to enlist himself as a member of the BJP. “I told the BJP workers involved in the membership drive that I will join the party only if it declares me as bhawi pradhan mantri (would-be PM),” Yadav told ThePrint.
Yadav is among the 13 candidates representing little-known parties or contesting as Independents for the seat. Gopal Swaroop Gandhi, who calls himself the founder and president of the Kisan Mazdoor Berojgar Sangh, is another face in the Wayanad fray from Uttar Pradesh.
The 61-year-old has previously contested six elections—assembly and Lok Sabha combined—and lost. He wanted to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi but his nomination was rejected. He has a sneaking suspicion that the rejection was owing to his adopted surname ‘Gandhi’.
“I adopted it since I always admired Mahatma Gandhi. Perhaps the BJP did not want a Gandhi to contest against Smriti Irani,” he told ThePrint. The prospect of another impending loss does not worry Gandhi, who has already launched his solo campaign across the picturesque constituency.
SP’s new slogan to counter Yogi
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s slogan “Batenge toh Katenge” gained a lot of attention after it was backed by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionaries. Even in the UP by-polls, several local BJP leaders are using it in their speeches.
But now, the Samajwadi Party has come up with its counter. SP leaders have created a new slogan “Judenge toh Jeetenge” (United we win) before the crucial UP by-polls. SP workers have put posters with the slogan in the state capital as a reply to Yogi Adityanath. SP functionaries have also decided to raise it during TV debates and speeches.
An SP functionary said, “We needed a counter to Yogi’s slogan, otherwise they would easily polarise the elections.”
“So, now we have its counter. Wherever BJP workers put such slogans, our workers will go and put its counter narrative. This is our way to tackle BJP’s hate politics,” he added.
The UP CM has been using the full slogan “Batenge to katenge….Ek rahenge to nek rakenge (Will be slaughtered if divided… Unity will make us worthy)” at a number of public rallies in response to the alleged atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh following the recent political unrest in the neighbouring country. BJP workers are using the slogan in by-poll rallies to create a narrative to, what they say is, unite hindus.
Hope for ‘sidelined’ Smriti Irani?
Former Union Minister Smriti Irani’s ‘active’ involvement in Delhi politics has led to speculation about her role in the Delhi Assembly election early next year. Irani recently addressed party workers in Delhi as part of the 2024 BJP membership drive.
The former MP from Amethi recently visited the Keshavpuram district in the Chandni Chowk constituency and was accompanied by MP Praveen Khandelwal. This visit, too, was a part of the ongoing membership drive aimed at broadening the party’s base.
Born and brought up in Delhi, Irani has been actively involved in BJP’s membership drives and has been given the charge of “supervision” of seven out of 14 Delhi districts.
The BJP had contested the 2020 polls without a chief ministerial face and won 8 out of 70 seats. Delhi BJP leaders are watching Irani’s movements with curiosity and some anxiety, in case of chief ministerial aspirants. From former Union Minister Harsh Vardhan to party MPs Manoj Tiwari, Bansuri Swaraj, and others, the list of the BJP’s CM aspirants runs long.
With Irani’s name doing the rounds in the party corridors, what might give these aspirants some hope is the fact that she is no longer the cynosure of the high command’s eyes that she once was.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term, she held high profile portfolios like human resource development (HRD) and information and broadcasting. After she defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2019, she was expected to gain more prominence.
Instead, she was virtually sidelined in the government and was given the relatively light portfolios of women and child development and minority affairs. After she lost the last election, she has been on the margins and was even ignored for a Rajya Sabha berth.
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