UP assembly polls: Congress hopes to put 2017 debacle behind, make a mark in Amethi

The Congress, which failed to open its account in Amethi in 2017 UP assembly polls, hopes to make a mark by winning more than one of the five seats in the district this time. Amethi votes in the fifth phase of the 2022 UP assembly polls on Sunday.

Once considered a bastion of the Nehru-Gandhi family, Amethi is politically very important for the Congress.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also lost the Amethi Lok Sabha seat to Union minister Smriti Irani in 2019.

Both Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigned for the party candidate in Jagdishpur assembly constituency of Amethi .

Rahul, who joined Priyanka for the party’s campaign in 2022 UP assembly elections in the state on Friday, had earlier stayed away from the constituency for nearly two years.

Both Rahul and Priyanka visited the constituency on December 18, 2021, holding a nearly six-km foot march from Jagdishpur to Harimau, as part of the Congress’ ‘BJP Bhagao-Mahangai Hatao Pratigya Yatra” there. This was also a Congress bid to refresh the Gandhi family’s ties with the local people and reclaim the party’s bastion. Rahul used the occasion to establish an instant connect with the people, calling Amethi his home. “Priyanka Gandhi Vadra came to me a few days ago and asked me to visit Lucknow for a meeting. I told my sister that I will visit my home (Amethi) before going to Lucknow. I wanted to speak to my family that elected me for the first time in 2004,” Rahul had said on December 18.

Like most of the state, Amethi, too, appears to be witnessing a straight fight between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.

In this scenario, the Congress candidates are trying to remain relevant in the contest.

In Amethi assembly constituency, the Congress, which has fielded an outsider Ashish Shukla, is in a difficult position.

The BJP’s decision to field former minister Sanjay Sinh from the seat has made the contest difficult not only for the Congress but other parties too. Sinh, also a former MP, was once considered a powerful Congress leader and close associate of the late Sanjay Gandhi and later of former Prime Minister the late Rajiv Gandhi.

Sinh had a stint with the BJP earlier too. And he again joined the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He had last contested the assembly polls 37 years ago in 1985.

“Yes, I am contesting the assembly election for the first time after 1985. The BJP is the only party that is truly following the motto of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas” while other parties are working on caste and communal lines. I am sure, people have already made up their mind in favour of the BJP now,” said Sinh.

Jagdishpur is another important assembly constituency in Amethi. Both Rahul and Priyanka decided to address the people in this constituency as the party candidate Vijay Pasi appears to be giving a tough fight to his rivals, including BJP minister Suresh Pasi. The Congress government led by then Prime Minister the late Rajiv Gandhi had developed Jagdishpur as an industrial area. Many major industrial units set up there have now closed down. During their campaign, Rahul and Priyanka referred to setting up of PSUs (public sector undertakings) at Jagdishpur by the Congress government and how the BJP government was selling them now.

In Salon (reserved) assembly constituency, the Samajwadi Party has fielded Jagdish Prasad, a cardiologist and Padma Shri awardee.

“Such persons usually avoid joining politics. He is the best qualified candidate and hope the people will support him as a candidate there,” said social thinker Rajesh Paswan.

Jagdish Prasad appears to be in a direct contest with the BJP’s Ashok Kori, son of BJP leader Dal Bahadur Kori who died last year.

The Congress has fielded Arjun Pasi for the seat and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has campaigned for him.

Asked whether this will make a difference, a Congress leader said, “The Congress is making the fight triangular there.”

The Congress has fielded District Congress Committee president Pradeep Singhal from Tiloi in Amethi, giving a challenge to BJP’s Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh. In Gauriganj, the Congress has fielded Fateh Bahadur against the SP’s sitting MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh. The BJP has fielded former BSP MLA Chandra Prakash Matiyari for the seat and he is being considered a strong candidate there.