‘In UP, Cong needs to learn from MP situation’

LUCKNOW: The developments in the Congress in Madhya Pradesh have brought into focus the prevailing state of affairs in party in Uttar Pradesh with some insiders expressing the view that there was a need for the party to learn from the political situation in the neighbouring state.

In a bid to revive the Congress in UP, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were appointed AICC general secretaries incharge of west UP and east UP, respectively, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee

(UPCC) president Ajay Kumar Lallu said, “Scindia made only a few visits to west UP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He stopped visiting the districts of west UP after the poll results. So, his exit will not affect the Congress in UP.”

Nevertheless, another Congress functionary, who did not wish to be named, said, “The MP Congress developments may not have any impact on the party in UP. But we need to learn some lessons from there. A number of senior leaders are feeling left out. Instead of addressing the issues being raised by partymen, the state Congress has acted against those who have raised their voice. It is high time corrective measures are taken or else the situation will go from bad to worse in UP.” Many more party leaders made similar observations though they refused to go on record.

Though the Congress has seven MLAs in UP, two of them are considered close to the BJP. Both the legislators, Rakesh Singh and Aditi Singh, represent the assembly segments of Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. After the 2019 poll debacle, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra began taking personal interest in the state party’s affairs. She gave the go-ahead for the state’s new team led by Ajay Kumar Lallu after long consultations with partymen. Yet, the new team has been facing opposition from different sections in the party.

“A number of senior leaders may be in a mood to move out while some others have been already forced out,” said the party functionary quoted above.

Questions are being raised about the style of functioning of the state unit’s new team.

“Anybody raising his voice against any wrongdoing in the party is considered a rebel and faces action,” said UPCC minority department former chief Siraj Mehandi.