BJP set to hold its biggest rally in Rae Bareli
LUCKNOW/RAEBARELI: The Bharatiya Janata Party is set to mount its biggest ever political offensive yet in Congress pocket borough Rae Bareli and has tasked its booth level cadres in the district to mobilise a crowd of over one lakh for the rally, to be addressed by party chief Amit Shah, chief minister Yogi Adityanath and a few ministers of Modi and Yogi governments at the GIC grounds on Saturday.
Barring three exceptions 1977, 1996 and 1998 - Rae Bareli has stood with the Congress since 1952. Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, a four-term MP.
Even half the target crowd would help in conveying Shah’s intent to rattle the Gandhis on their turf, BJP leaders admit.
Nand Gopal Nandi, the UP minister and in-charge of Rae Bareli, and Hero Bajpai, party in-charge of the district have undertaken two trips to supervise rally preparations in a region where even commoners admit defeating the Gandhis would be a tough task.
“Yes, the BJP is trying to make an impression here but I don’t think there is any doubt on who would win from here,” said a tea shop owner in Munshiganj.
But BJP leaders point out how ‘successful’ the party has been in making an impression in Amethi – the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. “In little under 20 days union minister Smriti Irani managed to cut Rahul’s victory margin substantially. Both Amethi and
Rae Bareli are part of BJP’s ‘Mission 80’ in UP,” said Hero Bajpai.
The party is busy getting two stage prepared – one for Shah, Adityanath and ministers and the other smaller one for local leaders. Congress MLC from local body quota - Dinesh Pratap Singh who along with his brother Awadhesh, the zila panchayat
chairman in Rae Bareli would join the BJP at the event, is assisting in rally preparations.
Dinesh’s brother Rakesh Singh, the Congress MLA from Harchandpur in Rae Bareli, may not join the BJP here, ostensibly to escape disqualification under the anti-defection act.
Amethi and Rae Bareli were the only two Lok Sabha seats that Congress could win from UP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The Saturday rally signaling party’s intent for Rae Bareli well ahead of Lok Sabha elections is unique for even in 2014 Lok Sabha elections when Modi had broken the unwritten code of top leaders not visiting each other’s constituencies by holding a rally in Amethi, he had stayed clear of Rae Bareli.
At the moment, the Congress is sounding brave. “Congress has been winning Rae Bareli since 1952 when this seat was a mix of Pratapgarh (west) and Rae Bareli (east). BJP is welcome in Rae Bareli because they would now know their real worth here. And it’s from here that their downfall would begin,” says Congress leader Devendra Pratap Singh.