Congress eagerness to project Rahul as Prime Minsterial candidate has given Anna Hazare a good opportunity to arm-twist the party to pass Lokpal Bill in winter session reports Chandran Iyer.
The chilly Winter session of Parliament is likely to be the hottest time for the Congress party as it is going to sweat to stave off yet another agitation by the anti-corruption leader Anna Hazare who has threatened to tour the poll bound states including Uttar Pradesh to ask the people to defeat the Congress if the party fails to pass the Jan Lokpal bill in the winter session.
The “Anna Effect” has already given the Congress party a jolt in the Hisar by election when three-time MP and Congress candidate for the Hisar Lok Sabha byelection Jai Parkash lost his security deposit after the results were declared recently, prompting social activist Anna Hazare to advise the Congress to draw its lessons from the defeat. Hazare also threatened to replicate the Hisar in Uttar Pradesh and other states going to assembly poll in 2012.
Team Anna had campaigned against the Congress in Hisar, saying the party was not serious about passing the jan lokpal bill. Team Anna’s next target is the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections.
This has put the Congress on a very sticky wicket as dismal electoral performance in UP could project the Congress General Secretary and the party’s future prime ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi in a poor light. A defeat in UP will obviously limit Rahul’s capacity to deal with provincial satraps and regional parties while a victory in UP as a chief ministerial candidate will establish him as a mass leader.
Thus the UP assembly election in 2012 is going to be a litmus test for the Congress and a prestige issue for Rahul Gandhi whom the Congress want to pitchfork as the prime minister. This is because Rahul Gandhi had slogged to revive the Congress in UP. It resulted in the party winning 21 seats in 2009 Lok Sabha election, 12 more than its 2004 tally. The Congress had won 22 seats in 2007 assembly election.
Knowing the direction of the Ana breeze, the Congress does not want to take any chances and has geared up to take on the “corrupt, insensitive and inefficient government in Uttar Pradesh”, which goes to polls early next year.
From November 1, the party will be launching five yatras across the state which will cover all the 400 plus assembly constituencies and the general secretary of the Congress Rahul Gandhi himself will participate in some of these yatras
The party also proposes to hold more than a dozen rallies across the state in December and wrap it up with a massive public meeting at Lucknow early next year which may be addressed by AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Even If the Congress manages to bag more than 100 seats in 2012, it will pave the way for Rahul’s prime ministerial prospects in 2014, if Congress returns to power in next Lok Sabha elections. Rahul knows that road to Delhi goes from UP and Anna knows that Rahul is the nerve centre of Congress. Slightest political bruise could make the congress yelp and shriek.
The performance of Congress will also decide the future of UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, on whom Rahul has put his trust by giving her second term as state president despite opposition within the party. But any directive from Anna to defeat the Congress could result in severe setback to the party.
Knowing the weakness of the Congress, Anna has fired his salvo at the nerve centre of the Congress by announcing that he and his team will campaign in the five states that head for elections next year appealing to the voters to defeat the Congress. In short, it will take the elections with full seriousness and try its best to influence the outcome.
Anna and his team mate Arvind Kejriwal announced at Ralegan Siddhi that “we will campaign for the defeat of Congress candidates in Uttar Pradesh if the government at the Centre fails to pass the Lokpal Bill in the Winter session of Parliament”.
“We are not going to tell the voters whom they should vote for. If the Bill is not passed in the Winter Session, we will ask people to vote for any party except the Congress and choose a candidate who is clean and with a good character,” Hazare told a press conference in his native village, 50 km from Pune.
He said he has got letters from BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and others supporting the Jan Lokpal Bill but none from the Congress.
The Gandhian also sought a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the allegations being made against him in the 2G spectrum case.
Hazare said that Prime Minister should come clear on his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation by facing the “agni pariksha (test by fire)”. He said the PM should clear the air and demonstrate his accountability to the people of the country on the issue.
UP, the Prime Constituency of Nehru-Gandhi family DynastyThe population of Uttar Pradesh (UP) is equal to that of Brazil, the fifth most populous country. It sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha and 31 members to the Rajya Sabha. Unsurprisingly, it has a decisive influence on national politics. It is also considered politically important because of the number of seats it returns to the national Lok Sabha and as including the constituencies of such nationally notable figures as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Varun Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi of the Nehru-Gandhi family dynasty. It was also previously the home of Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The Gandhian also announced that he would undertake a four-day fast in Lucknow, three days before the UP assembly polls commence.
Making it clear that his opposition to the Congress was limited to the issue of Jan Lokpal Bill, Hazare, who was flanked by his key team-member Arvind Kejriwal, said that if the Bill was passed, he still go ahead with his campaign asking people to elect people with integrity.
He said preparations were underway for his nation- wide tour, and he had advised his team to arrange his rallies in constituencies, where the Congress had won the last Assembly elections in UP.
Hazare, who had withdrawn his 12-day hunger strike in Ramlila Maidan on August 28 following assurances from the Centre that three of his main demands would be considered, made it clear that his agitation would be intensified across the country in the coming months.
Anna said he would concentrate on defeating Congress candidates in all five states going to polls in 2012. Besides UP, polls are scheduled in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat and Manipur.
The Congress already is in a sticky wicket as the spate of scandals that has tumbled out of the party’s cupboard and some its top ministers cooling their heels in the jail on corruption charges has considerably dented the image of the party. Adding to the woes of the congress is the simmering differences among the top leaders of the party which includes P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee who do not see eye to eye on several issues.
The Congress seems to be caught between the devil and the deep sea. Any confrontation with Anna at this juncture could spell doom for the party while giving in to his demand is also fraught with serious repercussions as most of the leaders have their hands soiled with corruption.
