by CT Nilesh

In February, statewide elections will be held in the state. If the Congress Party led by 40-year-old Rahul Gandhi should win, the up and coming leader might aspire for the prime minister's office in 2014. Caste-based parties are his is many opponents.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) -The most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh, is going elective its Legislative Assembly, in different phases, during this month, and Rahul Gandhi, the 40-year-old son of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, has taken on himself the responsibility of bringing the state back to the Congress Party.

UP for half century had been the strong hold of the Congress Party, but since the rise of the caste oriented parties like the Smajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samjwadi Party (BSP) the big number of Dalits have turn their votes to these parties and Mulayam Singh (SP) was and Mayawati (BSP) is now the Chief Minister.

For the more than a year, Rahul Gandhi has been touring the state, staying and living with the Dalits, reorganizing the different sections of the Congress party and appealing to the youth to join the party. If he succeeds in bringing back UP to the Congress, he will be ready to stand for the post of Prime Minister of India after the general election of 2014. He always denied this plan saying that we have already a very efficient Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the question does not arise.

It is supposed to be the mother of all state election, the outcome of which will set the tempo for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The UP contest threatens to put an end to Mayawati's political supremacy. It marks also a challenge to the BJP, which has seen its appeal steadily diminish in its one time stomping ground.

The first leg of the long seven-phase election will cover ten districts spread over Avadh and eastern Terai regions. To the extent that the region can be said to be the social microcosm of UP because of the presence of all the major social groups who make up the state's polity.

One characteristic of UP is that at least 30 hard-core criminals and mafia dons are contesting this year's assembly elections from jail, which is high even by the Up standards. What is different however is that, this time, merely two people with criminal records are contesting as mainstream party candidates; the rest are nominees of fringe outfits. Top among the dons is Prem Prakash Singh aka Munna Bajrangi from Madiyahon (Jaunpur) on an Apna Dal ticket; he is in Tihar Jail. Political Parties have for years made the right noises about eliminating criminals from politics. However, they have done precious little beyond mouthing these platitudes. What id therefore needed is a change in the laws.

A positive verdict for the Congress would settle its confrontation with the BJP, but a stumble could rev up a fire-breathing BJP. March 6 will also have a bearing on Rahul leadership of the Congress.

 

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• elections