This is like a nightmare for the Congress that is becoming very strong in the country. This is a very shocking news, especially for the UP Congress. When the warrior accepts defeat even before entering the battle, the situation of the soldiers becomes dire. Actually, by-elections will be held on November 13 in 9 UP assembly seats. Akhilesh Yadav made a big announcement on Wednesday night and said that the alliance candidates will contest the elections for the 9 SP party symbol seats. Akhilesh Yadav announced this through a long post on social media platform Now it seems that either the Congress has become worried about Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s moves on alliance with India or the Congress has not decided to fight at all.
Whether this decision is correct may be a matter of controversy. But this is definitely an embarrassment for the Congress. Even if the Samajwadi Party was giving some weak seats to the Congress, the Congress should have been martyred while fighting. Had the seats been lost, at least Congress workers’ enthusiasm for the party would have remained intact. It’s like fleeing the battlefield without fighting. And to avoid embarrassment, it is as if the Samajwadi Party hides its face in its pallu. After all, why and how did this happen? Why is it a setback for Congress? Let’s see.
1- Akhilesh says that the joint candidates will contest with the SP symbol, while the reality is different.
After not giving up a single seat to Congress, Akhilesh Yadav consoles Congressmen by writing a long article on X. Akhilesh writes that…
Under this strategy, joint candidates of the ‘India Alliance’ will contest the elections for the 9 seats of the Samajwadi Party’s symbol ‘Cycle’. Congress and Samajwadi Party are united and shoulder to shoulder to achieve a big victory. The Indian Alliance is going to write a new chapter of victory in these by-elections. With the union of the top leaders of the Congress Party with the booth workers, the power of the Samajwadi Party has multiplied. With this unprecedented cooperation and support, every worker of the ‘India Alliance’ has been filled with new energy as they take up the promise of victory in the 9 assembly seats. This is an election to save the country’s constitution, the harmony and honor of the PDA. That is why our call is: not a single vote should be reduced, nor a single vote divided. This harmonious unity and solidarity of the “Indian Alliance” in the interest of the country will write a new history today and tomorrow too.
Akhilesh Yadav says in his post that “it is not about winning the seat”. Does it mean Akhilesh thinks Congress candidates are unwinnable? Akhilesh doesn’t know how many votes Congress got from Mari seats in the Lok Sabha elections? The question arises: why were one or two seats not offered to the Congress?
Akhilesh Yadav writes that with the coming together of the Congress Party’s top leadership and booth-level workers, the power of the Samajwadi Party has multiplied. Who is Akhilesh saying this to? Not only Akhilesh but also the people of the state do not know that there are no workers left in the Congress booths. This is the only weakness of the party. Otherwise, core congressional voters are already turning to it. Maybe that’s why Akhilesh doesn’t want the Congress to get stronger. Akhilesh knows that if the Congress has even the slightest chance, the entire socialist base of UP will be shaken. Because the Dalit votes that the Samajwadi Party got in the Lok Sabha elections were not because of Akhilesh Yadav. Thanks to the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, Dalits voted in large numbers for the Samajwadi Party along with the Congress. The same thing happened with Muslim votes. The current situation will be such that if a Muslim has to choose between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, then the Congress Party will be his first choice.
2- This is a direct departure from the field for Congress.
In fact, it was feared that the Congress Party had refused to participate in the by-elections because it did not win the desired number of seats. It is understood that the Congress party did not want to gamble on the lost seat. Akhilesh Yadav had left the Ghaziabad and Khair seats for the Congress. As everyone knows, it is almost impossible for the Congress to win these two seats. But like the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had offered an equal contest in many of those seats where the Congress could not find candidates. Even if the Congress Party was considering Ghaziabad and Khair as seats that were almost unwinnable, the party should have fielded candidates. And the fight should have been fought fiercely.
If the Congress Party is playing the game of unbreakable, if even a snake dies to save its honour, then this is enough to drive it into the deep abyss. This brings down the morale of the party workers. Akhilesh Yadav should also have been given at least one seat from which Congress’ victory was certain. For example, if the Congress had won seats like Phulpur and Meerapur, it could have won here too. Currently, Akhilesh Yadav does not follow the coalition dharma. He may have done this because the Congress had also not followed alliance with him in many states.
3- Given the way Congress has surrendered, will it one day be able to remain in UP?
Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao is said to have not wanted the Congress to gain strength in Uttar Pradesh. Because he understood that if the Congress becomes stronger in UP then its position in the government will be weak. He formed an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. And almost all the seats were given to the Bahujan Samaj Party. He agreed to participate in the elections for Congress with less than 10 percent of seats. In this way Narasimha Rao achieved his intention. The result was that the Congress came to an end in Uttar Pradesh. Till date, the Congress has not been able to contest in Uttar Pradesh. Kneeling before the Samajwadi Party in the Uttar Pradesh by-elections will also produce a similar effect. But today there is no such obligation to Congress. Rahul Gandhi knows that if he ever wants to form a government at the Centre, his path lies through UP.
4- Will the state organization and the voters of Congress accept this decision?
A worker of any party wants his own elevation along with the party. Nowadays no one has the patience to wait five more years. When the party worker sees that the leadership is surrendering to the Samajwadi Party, he will think of joining the Samajwadi Party instead of remaining in the Congress. As happened after Narasimha Rao’s decision. When the Congress surrendered to the Bahujan Samaj Party. Congress president Ajay Rai kept saying that he was preparing for the by-elections in UP. Not only Ajay Rai but also many workers and political analysts assumed that the Congress would definitely get some seats. But no one had thought that the group would kneel like this.
5- It would have been better if Rahul Gandhi had announced the fielding of a joint candidate.
If the plan to field a joint candidate came up with mutual consent after talks between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, then PC Rahul Gandhi should have brought it before the public. Because this is not happening, the message is being sent to the people that this is a coerced decision. In this way, in all the states where the party is strong, he would like that instead of giving some seats to Congress, only joint candidates would run. If this starts to happen, you can’t imagine a worse day than this for Congress. The Congress days in Uttar Pradesh were not yet so bad that it had to contest elections under someone else’s symbol. The votes received by Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha elections show that many candidates have received votes on behalf of the party. The candidates were very weak but the public voted for them overwhelmingly.
