The distance between Shimla and Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi and Rae Bareli is a little over 1,000km. But the political storm brewing in Himachal Pradesh — which saw the Congress’s Rajya Sabha candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lose to the BJP despite having more numbers, leaving the state government teetering on the brink – may soon be seen in the Gandhi family bastions in UP.
Both crises are connected by a common thread – the grand old party’s decision to boycott the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ or consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
The Himachal Crisis
Six Congress MLAs — Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur, and Chetanya Sharma — who cross-voted for the BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidate and even abstained from voting on Budget in the Assembly in defiance of the party whip are considered to have been close to former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and the late Congress leader Virbhadra Singh who was an ardent ‘Ram bhakt’ (devotee of Lord Ram).
In a state that has 95.17% Hindu population, the top leadership’s decision to boycott the Ayodhya event has caused hurt and even anger. The BJP has tried to capitalise on the internal turmoil in the Himachal Congress, even using former Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh’s proximity to Virbhadra Singh’s son and minister in Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s cabinet. Sources in the saffron party said the “overwhelming anger” at the Congress leadership over “disrespecting” Lord Ram made it an easy job.
In fact, Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya Singh went against the decision taken by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and took part in the consecration ceremony in January and resigned from the cabinet as drama unfolded in Himachal Pradesh, only to be coaxed into withdrawing it after Congress trouble-shooter DK Shivakumar stepped in.
Back in January, Vikramaditya Singh had said: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of this historic day and as a Hindu having faith in ‘Dev Samaj’, it is my responsibility to be present on the occasion and witness the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Lord Ram.”
Amethi-Rae Bareli’s ‘Ram’ Kahani
In more trouble for the Congress, the Himachal drama may just be a trailer. Sources in the BJP suggest a similar political upheaval is awaiting the grand old party in Amethi and Rae Bareli, known to be Gandhi family bastions. There too the BJP is waiting to capitalise on the alleged resentment over the Congress leadership skipping the Ram Mandir event.
Among the Samajwadi Party MLAs who cross-voted in Uttar Pradesh and made the eighth Rajya Sabha candidate of the BJP win are Rakesh Pratap Singh and Abhay Singh. Both have cited their unhappiness at the SP leadership, too, over not attending the Ram Mandir event. Abhay Singh has now visited Ayodhya and criticized Akhilesh Yadav. Before casting his ballot for the Rajya Sabha election, Rakesh Pratap Singh had said: “Ram rom rom me hai, Ram kann kann mein hai (Ram is there in every fibre of my being)”.
Both the leaders have significant influence in the parliamentary constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli. Rakesh Pratap Singh is MLA from Gauriganj, which falls under the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency.
If that isn’t worrying enough for the Congress, another SP MLA who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election was the party’s chief whip till Tuesday — Manoj Pandey. The three-term MLA comes from Unchahar seat which falls under the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. Pandey, too, is learnt to be unhappy with the decision of the Samajwadi Party leadership.
Sonia Gandhi has so far been representing Rae Bareli, but the ticket for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is speculated to go to Priyanka Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019. He recently visited the constituency during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and his emotional speech made many wonder whether he will take a second shot at Amethi in 2024.
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