Last week when Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Akhilesh Yadav ran into each other on a flight, she thanked him for taking the “cowards” from her party. Priyanka’s reference was to those who had quit the Congress to join other parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, a one-time close aide of Priyanka, has joined this list of “cowards”, as he officially entered the TMC on Monday. The great-grandson of former chief minister Kamalapati Tripathi, Lalitesh comes from the Purvanchal area of Uttar Pradesh and was a fixture with Priyanka when she was on her boat for Ganga Yatra after taking over as UP incharge. Lalitesh was made vice president of the party’s UP unit and also contested from Mirzapur against Anupriya Patel.
The loss of Lalitesh may be dismissed by the Congress as an act of a coward but its implications are deep. It means that despite Priyanka’s efforts, not many are willing to see the Congress as a working alternative to the BJP. It also marks the entry of the TMC and SP as serious opponents of the Congress who have no qualms in poaching its leaders while talking of opposition unity. Interestingly, in private Mamata has acknowledged that in comparison to Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka has more fire. Yet, the TMC understandably wants to align with a potential contender rather than the Congress in UP.
So it comes as no surprise that Mamata has decided to campaign for the SP ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls. Jaya Bachchan from the SP had canvassed for Mamata and the TMC in this year’s West Bengal elections. A close aide of Priyanka leaving the ship comes as a personal blow to her as she had big plans for and hopes from Lalitesh. It also marks the formal entry of the TMC in the already crowded UP battlefield. And as these parties get aggressive, it only hurts the Congress’s chances. And not just in UP but in other states as well, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), TMC, SP, etc, want to make inroads .
“UP is not new to me. I have gone there to campaign various times,” Mamata said on Monday. “In Lakhimpur (where violence took place during farmers’ protest recently) also the Congress could not reach. We reached there. Sitting in Bengal, I am trying everything for the farmer movement.”
Lalitesh’s father Rajesh Pati Tripathi also formally joined the TMC along with his son on Monday. “The way Mamata Banerjee defeated the CPI(M) rule…in India, the Congress has become weak in various places…today the country needs a new leader, and that is why everything depends on Mamata Banerjee,” he said.
It’s quite possible that if the SP wins in UP, it would want to spread its wings like the TMC. And this could dent the Congress’s plans to unseat the BJP at the Centre in 2024. Which is why on Tuesday, Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of state Congress chiefs and incharges to formulate a strategy to ensure the party remains in the race. And the pressure is on the Gandhi siblings to keep the fire burning to ensure that the grand old party remains a promising alternative. Just dismissing those who leave the Congress as “cowards” may not work.
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