LUCKNOW: In a peculiar endorsement of Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, RLD UP chief Ramashish Rai on Monday said that the ground level political situation was turning “perceptibly favourable” for the Grand Old party which was now required to lead the opposition bloc, INDIA, from the front.
“Not only political but also non-political people from all walks of lives have started speaking about the Congress. This is a stark change which we all are observing and acknowledging here in UP, at least. Congress therefore will have to lead the opposition bloc,” Rai said, while speaking to TOI.
He affirmed that the minority population, too, appeared supportive of the Congress. “The return of Imran Masood in Congress fold could further bolster its foot prints amongst the minorities, especially in the west UP region,” he said.
Rai said that Congress stood a good chance of regaining the status it had in UP in 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Then, Congress had won 21 seats, while SP and BSP had won 23 and 20 seats respectively. Interestingly, BJP and its RLD, had then won 10 and five seats respectively.
Rai’s observation attained much political significance amid SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's concerted bid to emerge as the key player of the opposition front and the most potent rival of the BJP in UP. This also comes days after Akhilesh categorically asserted that it will be his party which would be in the position of taking key decisions in distribution of seats to INDIA constituents, primarily RLD and Congress, ahead of the next year’s national general elections.
Sources said that the RLD has been taking ground level feedback from its functionaries to ascertain the emerging political situation in the aftermath of opposition parties coming together against the BJP. According to sources, a host of Muslim leaders in RLD have suggested to the party leadership that neglecting Congress at the cost of SP would not be a fair idea and may go against party’s bid to consolidate the minority community.
Experts said that the RLD electoral ground underwent a sharp erosion after its core Jat vote bank entered into acrimonious terms with the Muslim community after the raging 2013 Muzzaffarnagar communal riots. RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary, not surprisingly, has been harping on organizing `Bhaichara sammellans’ (Brotherhood conventions) to amalgamate Jats with the Muslims which, otherwise, have traditionally been voting in favor of the Samajwadi Party.
“RLD’s alliance with SP was certainly very strong. But we also need to understand the pulse of the people,” said a senior RLD leader. He said that the party leadership believed that the Congress was "accommodative" and could easily share the political space with its allies. Sources said that the RLD keen bent towards the Congress in UP was also driven by its purported bitter experience with the SP during seat sharing during the Urban Local Bodies polls conducted earlier this year.
